Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/rolloinrome00abbo_0 


THE  VATICAN  BY  TORCHLIGHT.  See  page  205. 


ROLLO  IN  ROME, 


JACOB  ABBOTT. 


BOSTON: 

BROWN,  TAGGARD  &  CHASE, 

(Successors  to  W.  J.  Reynolds  &  Co.) 

25  &  29  CORNHILL. 

1860. 


Entered  accord)]  g  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  28 58,  by 
Jacob  Abbott, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


ELECTROTYPE!)  AT  THE 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  —  The  Diligence  Office,  .  .  .  .13 

II.  —  The  Journey, . 34 

III.  —  The  Arrival  at  Rome,  .  .  .  .56 

IY.  —  A  Ramble, . 68 

Y.  —  Getting  Lost, . 88 

YI.  —  The  Coliseum, . 105 

VII.  —  The  Gladiator, . 127 

VIII.  —  The  Tarpeian  Rock, . 147 

IX.  —  Going  to  Ostia, . 167 

X.  —  The  Vatican, . 192 

XI.  —  Conclusion, . 208 


ENGRAVINGS. 

The  Vatican  by  Torchlight,  (Frontispiece.) 

The  Mosaic  Shop, . 12 

Preparing  for  the  Journey, . 21 

The  Pontine  Marshes, . 49 

Doing  Penance, . 59 

Riding  among  the  Ruins, . 91 

Looking  down  from  the  Coliseum,  .  .  .  .109 

View  of  the  Lower  Corridors,  .  .  .  .123 

Ascent  to  the  Capitol, . 139 

Statue  of  the  Gladiator, . 143 

Interior  of  the  Pantheon, . 163 

The  Coliseum  by  Torchlight, . 209 


(9) 


ORDER  OF  THE  VOLUMES. 

HOLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 
HOLLO  IN  PAHIS. 

HOLLO  IN  SWITZERLAND. 
HOLLO  IN  LONDON. 

HOLLO  ON  THE  RHINE. 
HOLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 
HOLLO  IN  GENEVA. 

HOLLO  IN  HOLLAND. 
HOLLO  IN  NAPLES. 

HOLLO  IN  HOME. 


(10) 


t 


THE  MOSAIC  SHOP.  See  page  73. 


EOLLO  IN  SOME. 


Chapter  I. 

The  Diligence  Office. 


Travelling  in  Italy.  The  diligence.  Compartments. 

ROLLO  went  to  Rome  in  company  with  his 
uncle  George,  from  Naples.  They  went  by 
the  diligence,  which  is  a  species  of  stage  coach. 
There  are  different  kinds  of  public  coaches  that 
ply  on  the  great  thoroughfares  in  Italy,  to  take 
passengers  for  hire  ;  but  the  most  common  kind 
is  the  diligence. 

The  diligences  in  France  are  very  large,  and 
are  divided  into  different  compartments,  with  a 
different  price  for  each.  There  are  usually  three 
compartments  below  and  one  above.  In  the 
Italian  diligences,  however,  or  at  least  in  the  one 
in  which  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  travelled  to 
Rome,  there  were  only  three.  First  there  was 
the  interior ,  or  the  body  of  the  coach  proper. 
Directly  before  this  was  a  compartment,  with  a 
glass  front,  containing  one  seat  only,  which  looked 

(13) 


14 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  coupe.  The  banquette. 


Danger  of  fever. 


forward  ;  there  were,  of  course,  places  for  three 
persons  on  this  seat.  This  front  compartment 
is  called  the  coupe*  It  is  considered  the  best  in 
the  diligence. 

There  is  also  a  seat  up  above  the  coupe ,  in  a 
sort  of  second  story,  as  it  were  ;  and  this  was  the 
seat  which  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  usually  pre¬ 
ferred,  because  it  was  up  high,  where  they  could 
see  better.  But  for  the  present  journey  Mr. 
George  thought  the  high  seat,  which  is  called 
the  banquette ,  would  not  be  quite  safe  ;  for  though 
it  was  covered  above  with  a  sort  of  chaise  top, 
still  it  was  open  in  front,  and  thus  more  exposed 
to  the  night  air.  In  ordinary  cases  he  would  not 
have  been  at  all  afraid  of  the  night  air,  but  the 
country  between  Naples  and  Rome,  and  indeed 
the  country  all  about  Rome,  in  every  direction, 
is  very  unhealthy.  So  unhealthy  is  it,  in  fact, 
that  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year  it  is  almost 
uninhabitable  ;  and  it  is  in  all  seasons  considered 
unsafe  for  strangers  to  pass  through  in  the  night, 
unless  they  are  well  protected. 

There  is,  in  particular,  one  tract,  called  the 
Pontine  Marshes ,  where  the  road,  with  a  sluggish 
canal  by  the  side  of  it,  runs  in  a  straight  line 
and  on  a  dead  level  for  about  twenty  miles.  It 


*  Pronounced  coupay. 


The  Diligence  Office. 


15 


Different  seats  in  the  diligence.  Regulations. 

so  happened  that  in  going  to  Rome  by  the  dili¬ 
gence,  it  would  be  necessary  to  cross  these  marshes 
in  the  night,  and  this  was  an  additional  reason 
why  Mr.  George  thought  it  better  that  he  and 
Rollo  should  take  seats  inside. 

The  whole  business  of  travelling  by  diligence 
in  Europe  is  managed  in  a  very  different  way 
from  stage  coach  travelling  in  America.  You 
must  engage  your  place  several  days  beforehand  ; 
and  when  you  engage  it  you  have  a  printed  re¬ 
ceipt  given  you,  specifying  the  particular  seats 
which  you  have  taken,  and  also  containing,  on  the 
back  of  it,  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
service.  The  different  seats  in  the  several  com¬ 
partments  of  the  coach  are  numbered,  and  the 
prices  of  them  are  different.  Rollo  went  so  early 
to  engage  the  passage  for  himself  and  Mr.  George 
that  he  had  his  choice  of  all  the  seats.  He  took 
Nos.  1  and  2  of  the  coupe .  He  paid  the  money 
and  took  the  receipt.  When  he  got  home,  he 
sat  down  by  the  window,  while  Mr.  George  was 
finishing  his  breakfast,  and  amused  himself  by 
studying  out  the  rules  and  regulations  printed  on 
the  back  of  his  ticket.  Of  course  they  were  in 
Italian  ;  but  Rollo  found  that  he  could  understand 
them  very  well. 

“If  we  are  not  there  at  the  time  when  the 
diligence  starts,  we  lose  our  money,  uncle  George/7 


16 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Weight  of  baggage  allowed. 


Time  to  be  at  the  office. 


said  he.  “  It  says  here  that  they  won’t  pay  it 
back  again.  ” 

“  That  is  reasonable,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  It 
will  be  our  fault  if  we  are  not  there.” 

“  Or  our  misfortune,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  something 
might  happen  to  us.” 

“  True,”  said  Mr.  George ;  “  but  the  happen¬ 
ing,  whatever  it  might  be,  would  be  our  misfor¬ 
tune,  and  not  theirs,  and  so  we  ought  to  bear  the 
loss  of  it.” 

“  If  the  baggage  weighs  more  than  thirty 
rotolos ,  we  must  pay  extra  for  it,”  continued 
Rollo.  “  How  much  is  a  rotolo ,  uncle  George?” 

“  I  don’t  know,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  but  we 
have  so  little  baggage  that  I  am  sure  we  cannot 
exceed  the  allowance.” 

“  The  baggage  must  be  at  the  office  two  hours 
before  the  time  for  the  diligence  to  set  out,”  con¬ 
tinued  Rollo,  passing  to  the  next  regulation  on 
his  paper. 

“  What  is  that  for  ?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

“  So  that  they  may  have  time  to  load  it  on  the 
carriage,  they  say,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George,  “you  can  take 
it  to  the  office  the  night  before.” 

“  They  don’t  take  the  risk  of  the  baggage,” 
said  Rollo,  “or  at  least  they  don’t  guarantee 
it,  they  say,  against  unavoidable  accidents  or 
superior  force.  What  does  that  mean  ?  ” 


The  Diligence  Office. 


17 


Baggage  at  the  risk  of  the  owners. 

44  Why,  in  case  the  diligence  is  struck  by  light¬ 
ning,  and  our  trunk  is  burned  up,”  replied  Mr. 
George,  44  or  in  case  it  is  attacked  by  robbers, 
and  carried  away,  they  don’t  undertake  to  pay 
the  damage.” 

44  And  in  case  of  smarrimento ,”  continued  Roilo, 
44  they  say  they  won’t  pay  damages  to  the  amount 
of  more  than  nine  dollars,  and  so  forth  ;  what  is 
a  smarrimento ,  uncle  George  ?  ” 

“I  don’t  know,”  said  Mr.  George. 

44  It  may  mean  a  smash-up,”  said  Roilo. 

“Very  likely,”  said  Mr.  George. 

44  Every  traveller,”  contined  Roilo,  looking 
again  at  his  paper,  44  is  responsible,  personally,  for 
all  violations  of  the  custom-house  regulations,  or 
those  of  the  police.” 

44  That’s  all  right,”  said  Mr.  George. 

44  And  the  last  regulation  is,”  said  Roilo,  44  that 
the  travellers  cannot  smoke  in  the  diligence,  nor 
take  any  dogs  in.” 

44  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George,  44  we  have  no 
dogs,  and  we  don’t  wish  to  smoke,  either  in  the 
diligence  or  any  where  else.” 

44  They  are  very  good  regulations,”  said  Roilo  ; 
and  so  saying,  he  folded  up  the  paper,  and  put  it 
back  into  his  wallet. 

On  the  evening  before  the  day  appointed  for 
the  journey,  Roilo  took  the  valise  which  con- 
2 


18 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Cyrus  and  Rollo  go  to  the  station. 


tamed  the  principal  portion  of  his  own  and  his 
uncle’s  clothes,  and  went  with  it  in  a  carriage  to 
the  office.  Mr.  George  offered  to  accompany 
him,  but  Rollo  said  it  was  not  necessary,  and  so 
he  took  with  him  a  boy  named  Cyrus,  whom  he 
had  become  acquainted  with  at  the  hotel. 

The  carriage,  when  it  arrived  at  the  diligence 
station,  drove  in  under  an  archway,  and  entered  a 
spacious  court  surrounded  by  lofty  buildings. 
There  was  a  piazza,  with  columns,  all  around  the 
court.  Along  this  piazza,  on  the  four  sides  of 
the  building,  were  the  various  offices  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  lines  of  diligences,  with  the  diligences 
themselves  standing  before  the  doors. 

“  Now,  Cyrus,”  said  Rollo,  “  we  have  got  to 
find  out  which  is  our  office.” 

But  Rollo  was  saved  any  trouble  on  this  score, 
for  the  coachman  drove  the  carriage  directly  to 
the  door  of  the  office  for  Rome.  Rollo  had  told 
him  that  that  was  his  destination,  before  leaving 
the  hotel. 

There  was  a  man  in  a  sort  of  uniform  at  the 
door  of  the  office.  Rollo  pointed  to  his  valise, 
and  said,  in  Italian,  “For  Rome  to-morrow  morn¬ 
ing.”  The  man  said,  “Very  well,”  and  taking 
the  valise  out  of  the  carriage,  he  put  it  in  the 
office.  Then  Rollo  and  Cyrus  got  into  the  car¬ 
riage  again,  and  rode  away. 


The  Diligence  Office. 


19 


Breakfast.  Provisions  for  the  journey. 

The  next  morning  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  went 
down  to  breakfast  before  six  o’clock.  While 
they  were  eating  their  breakfast,  the  waiter  came 
in  with  a  cold  roast  chicken  upon  a  plate,  which 
he  set  down  upon  the  table. 

“  Ah  !  ”  said  Mr.  George,  “  that  is  for  us  to  eat 
on  the  way.” 

“  Don’t  the  diligence  stop  somewhere  for  us  to 
dine  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “I  presume  it  stops 
for  us  to  dine,  but  as  we  are  going  to  be  out  all 
night,  I  thought  perhaps  that  we  might  want  a 
supper  towards  morning.  Besides,  having  a  sup¬ 
per  will  help  keep  us  awake  in  going  across  the 
Pontine  Marshes.” 

“  Must  we  keep  awake  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  So  they  say,”  replied  Mr.  George.  “  They 
say  you  are  more  likely  to  catch  the  fever  while 
you  are  asleep  than  while  you  are  awake.” 

“  I  don’t  see  why  we  should  be,”  said  Rollo. 

“Nor  do  I,”  said  Mr.  George. 

If  Mr.  George  really  did  not  know  or  under¬ 
stand  a  thing,  he  never  pretended  to  know  or 
understand  it. 

“  It  may  be  a  mere  notion,”  said  Mr.  George, 
“  but  it  is  a  very  prevailing  one,  at  any  rate  ;  so  I 
thought  it  would  be  well  enough  for  us  to  have 
something  to  keep  us  awake.” 


20 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rolls. 


Oranges. 


Bottle  of  coffee. 


“We  will  take  some  bread  and  butter  too,” 
said  Rollo. 

Mr.  George  said  that  that  would  be  an  excel¬ 
lent  plan.  So  they  each  of  them  cut  one  of  the 
breakfast  rolls  which  were  on  the  table  in  two, 
and  after  spreading  the  inside  surfaces  well  with 
butter,  they  put  the  parts  together  again.  The 
waiter  brought  them  a  quantity  of  clean  wrapping 
paper,  and  with  this  they  wrapped  up  both  the 
chicken  and  the  rolls,  and  Rollo  put  the  three 
parcels  into  his  bag. 

“  And  now,”  said  Rollo,  “  what  are  we  to  do 
for  drink  ?  ” 

“We  might  take  some  oranges,”  suggested  Mr. 
George. 

“  So  we  will,”  said  Rollo.  “  I  will  go  out  into 
the  square  and  buy  some.” 

Rollo,  accordingly,  went  out  into  the  square, 
and  for  what  was  equivalent  to  three  cents  of 
American  money  he  bought  six  oranges.  He  put 
the  oranges  into  his  pockets,  and  returned  to 
the  hotel. 

He  found  Mr.  George  filling  a  flat  bottle  with 
coffee.  He  had  poured  some  coffee  out  of  the 
coffee  pot  into  the  pitcher  of  hot  milk,  which  had 
still  a  considerable  quantity  of  hot  milk  remain¬ 
ing  in  it,  and  then,  after  putting  some  sugar  into 
it,  and  waiting  for  the  sugar  to  dissolve,  he  had 
commenced  pouring  it  into  the  flat  bottle. 


preparing  for  the  journey. 


The  Diligence  Office. 


23 


Mr.  George  and  Rollo  at  the  diligence  office. 


“We  may  like  a  little  coffee  too/7  said  Mr. 
George,  “  as  well  as  the  oranges.  We  can  drink 
it  out  of  my  drinking  cup.77 

Rollo  put  his  oranges  into  Mr.  George’s  bag, 
for  his  own  bag  was  now  full.  When  all  was 
ready,  and  the  hotel  bill  was  paid,  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  got  into  a  carriage  which  the  waiter 
had  sent  for  to  come  to  the  door,  and  set  off  for 
the  diligence  office.  It  was  only  half  past  seven 
when  they  arrived  there.  Rollo  saw  what  time 
it  was  by  the  great  clock  which  was  put  up  on 
the  front  of  one  of  the  buildings  towards  the 
court  yard. 

“We  are  to  early  by  half  an  hour,77  said 
Rollo. 

“  Yes/7  said  Mr.  George,  “  in  travelling  over 
new  ground  we  must  always  plan  to  be  too  early, 
or  we  run  great  risk  of  being  too  late.77 

“Never  mind/7  said  Rollo,  “I  am  glad  that 
we  are  here  before  the  time,  for  now  I  can  go 
around  and  see  the  other  diligences  getting  ready 
to  go  off.77 

So  Rollo  began  to  walk  about  under  the  por¬ 
tico,  or  piazza,  to  the  various  diligences  which 
were  getting  ready  to  set  out  on  the  different 
roads.  There  was  one  where  there  was  a  gentle¬ 
man  and  two  ladies  who  were  quite  in  trouble. 
I  suppose  that  among  the  girls  who  may  read 


24 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Drawbacks  to  the  pleasure  of  travelling  in  Europ 


this  book  there  may  be  many  who  may  think  that 
it  must  necessarily  be  a  very  agreeable  thing  to 
travel  about  Europe,  and  that  if  they  could  only 
go, — no  matter  under  what  circumstances, — 
they  should  experience  an  almost  uninterrupted 
succession  of  pleasing  sensations.  But  the  truth 
is,  that  travelling  in  Europe,  like  every  other 
earthly  source  of  pleasure,  is  very  far  from  being 
sufficient  of  itself  to  confer  happiness.  Indeed, 
under  almost  all  the  ordinary  circumstances  in 
which  parties  of  travellers  are  placed,  the  ques¬ 
tion  whether  they  are  to  enjoy  themselves  and  be 
happy  on  any  particular  day  of  their  journey,  or 
to  be  discontented  and  miserable,  depends  so 
much  upon  little  things  which  they  did  not  at  all 
take  into  the  account,  or  even  foresee  at  all  in 
planning  the  journey,  that  it  is  wholly  uncertain 
when  you  look  upon  a  party  of  travellers  that 
you  meet  on  the  road,  whether  they  are  really 
having  a  good  time  or  not.  You  cannot  tell  at 
all  by  the  outward  circumstances. 

There  was  a  striking  illustration  of  this  in  the 
case  of  the  party  that  attracted  Rollo’s  attention 
in  the  court  of  the  diligence  office.  The  gentle¬ 
man’s  name  was  Howland.  One  of  the  ladies  was 
his  young  wife,  and  the  other  lady  was  her  sister.  A 
The  sister’s  name  was  Louise.  Mr.  Howland 
intended  to  have  taken  the  whole  coupe  for  his 


The  Diligence  Office. 


25 


Mr.  Howland’s  perplexity.  The  interior.  The  banquette. 


party  ;  but  when  he  went  to  the  office,  the  day  be¬ 
fore,  to  take  the  places,  he  found  that  one  of  the 
seats  of  the  coupe  had  been  engaged  by  a  gentle¬ 
man  who  was  travelling  alone. 

“  How  unlucky  !  ”  said  Mr.  Howland  to  himself. 
“  We  must  have  three  seats,  and  it  won’t  do  for 
us  to  be  shut  up  in  the  interior,  for  there  we  can¬ 
not  see  the  scenery  at  all.” 

So  he  went  home,  and  asked  his  wife  what  it 
would  be  best  to  do.  “  We  cannot  have  three 
seats  together,”  said  he,  “  unless  we  go  up  upon 
the  banquette .” 

But  the  bride  said  that  she  could  not  possibly 
ride  on  the  banquette .  She  could  not  climb  up  to 
such  a  high  place. 

Now,  Mrs.  Howland’s  real  reason  for  not  being 
willing  to  ride  on  the  banquette,  was  not  the 
difficulty  of  climbing  up,  for  at  all  the  diligence 
offices  they  have  convenient  step  ladders  for  the 
use  of  the  passengers  in  getting  up  and  down. 
The  real  reason  was,  she  thought  it  was  not  gen¬ 
teel  to  ride  there.  And  in  fact  it  is  not  genteel. 
There  is  no  part  of  the  diligence  where  people 
who  attach  much  importance  to  the  fashion  of  the 
thing  are  willing  to  go,  except  the  coupe. 

“And  we  don’t  want  to  ride  in  the  interior,” 
said  Mr.  Howland. 

“  No,”  said  the  bride,  “  that  is  worse  than  the 


26 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Asking  the  stranger  to  change  his  seat. 

“  Nor  to  wait  till  another  day,”  added  Mr. 
Howland. 

“  No,”  said  Mrs.  Howland.  “We  mnst  go  to¬ 
morrow,  and  we  must  have  the  coupe.  The 
gentleman  who  has  engaged  the  third  seat  will 
give  it  up  to  us,  I  am  sure,  when  he  knows  that 
it  is  to  oblige  a  lady.  You  can  engage  the  two 
seats  in  the  coupe,  and  one  more,  either  on  the 
banquette  or  in  the  interior,  and  then  when  the 
time  comes  to  set  out  we  will  get  the  gentleman 
to  let  us  have  his  seat.  You  can  pay  him  the 
difference.” 

“  But,  Angelina,”  said  Mr.  Howland,  “  I  should 
not  like  to  ask  such  a  thing  of  the  gentleman. 
He  has  taken  pains  to  go  a  day  or  two  before¬ 
hand  to  engage  his  seat,  so  as  to  make  sure  of  a 
good  one,  and  I  don’t  think  we  ought  to  expect 
him  to  give  it  up  to  accommodate  strangers.” 

“0,  he  won’t  mind,”  said  Mrs.  Howland. 
“  He  would  as  lief  change  as  not.  And  if  he 
won’t,  we  can  arrange  it  in  some  way  or  other.” 

So  Mr.  Howland  engaged  the  two  places  in  the 
coup£,  and  one  on  the  banquette.  When  the 
morning  came,  he  brought  his  two  ladies  to  the 
diligence  station  in  good  season.  He  was  very 
unwilling  to  ask  the  gentleman  to  give  up  his 
seat ;  but  his  wife,  who  was  a  good  deal  accus¬ 
tomed  to  have  her  own  way,  and  who,  besides, 


The  Diligence  Office. 


27 


The  gentleman’s  answer  to  the  request. 

being  now  a  bride,  considered  herself  specially 
entitled  to  indulgences,  declared  that  if  her  hus¬ 
band  did  not  ask  the  gentleman,  she  would  ask 
him  herself. 

“  Very  well,77  said  Mr.  Howland,  “I  will  ask 
him  then.77 

So  Mr.  Howland  went  to  the  gentleman,  and 
asked  him.  He  was  standing  at  the  time,  with 
his  umbrella  and  walking  stick  in  his  hand,  near 
one  of  the  pillars  of  the  portico,  smoking  a  cigar. 
He  looked  at  Mr.  Howland  with  an  expression 
of  some  surprise  upon  his  countenance  on  hear¬ 
ing  the  proposition,  took  one  or  two  puffs  from 
his  cigar  before  replying,  and  then  said  quietly 
that  he  preferred  the  seat  that  he  had  taken  in 
the  coupe. 

“  It  would  be  a  very  great  favor  to  us,  if  you 
would  exchange  with  us,77  said  Mrs.  Howland, 
who  had  come  up  with  her  husband,  and  stood 
near.  “We  are  three,  and  we  want  very  much 
to  be  seated  together.  We  will  very  gladly  pay 
the  difference  of  the  fare.77 

The  gentleman  immediately,  on  being  thus  ad¬ 
dressed  by  Mrs.  Howland,  took  the  cigar  out  of  his 
mouth,  raised  his  hat,  and  bowed  very  politely. 

“Are  you  and  this  other  lady  the  gentleman7s 
party  ? 77  he  asked. 

“  Yes,  sir,77  said  Mrs.  Howland. 


28 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


He  offers  to  take  good  care  of  the  ladies. 


“  Then  I  cannot  possibly  think  of  giving  up 
my  seat  in  the  coupe/’  replied  the  gentleman. 
“  I  am  a  Russian,  it  is  true,  but  I  am  not  a  bear, 
as  I  should  very  justly  be  considered,  if  I  were  to 
leave  a  compartment  in  the  coach  when  two  such 
beautiful  ladies  as  you  were  coming  into  it,  espe¬ 
cially  under  the  influence  of  any  such  considera¬ 
tion  as  that  of  saving  the  difference  in  the  fare.” 

The  gentleman  said  this  in  so  frank  and  good- 
natured  a  way  that  it  was  impossible  to  take 
offence  at  it,  though  Mr.  Howland  felt,  that  by 
making  the  request  and  receiving  such  a  reply,  he 
had  placed  himself  in  a  very  ridiculous  position. 

“  I  prize  my  seat  more  than  ever,”  said  the 
Russian,  still  addressing  the  ladies  ;  “  I  prize  it 
incalculably,  and  so  I  cannot  think  of  going  up 
upon  the  banquette.  But  if  the  gentleman  will 
go  up  there,  I  will  promise  to  take  the  very  best 
care  of  the  ladies  possible,  while  they  are  in  the 
coup6.” 

Mrs.  Howland  then  took  Louise  aside,  and 
asked,  in  a  whisper,  whether  she  should  have  any 
objection  to  ride  in  the  interior,  in  case  Mr. 
Howland  could  exchange  the  place  on  the  ban¬ 
quette  for  one  within.  Louise  was  quite  troubled 
that  her  sister  should  make  such  a  proposal. 
She  said  she  should  not  like  very  well  to  go  in 
there  among  so  many  strangers,  and  in  a  place, 


The  Diligence  Office. 


29 


How  the  question  was  finally  settled. 

too,  where  she  could  not  see  the  scenery  at  all. 
Besides,  Louise  thought  that  it  would  have  been 
more  generous  in  Angelina,  if  she  thought  it 
necessary  for  one  or  the  other  of  them  to  ride 
inside,  to  have  offered  to  take  a  seat  there  her¬ 
self,  instead  of  putting  it  off  upon  her  sister, 
especially  since  it  was  not  so  proper,  she  thought, 
for  her,  being  a  young  lady,  to  ride  among  stran¬ 
gers,  as  for  one  who  was  married. 

Mr.  Howland  then  suggested  that  they  should 
all  ascend  to  the  banquette.  The  persons  who 
had  the  other  two  seats  there  would  of  course  be 
willing  to  change  for  the  coupe  ;  or  at  least,  since 
the  coupe  was  considered  the  best  place,  there 
would  be  no  indelicacy  in  asking  them  to  do  it. 

But  the  bride  would  not  listen  to  this  proposal. 
She  never  could  climb  up  there,  in  the  world, 
she  said. 

By  this  time  the  coach  was  ready,  and  the  con¬ 
ductor  began  to  call  upon  the  passengers  to  take 
their  places,  so  that  there  was  no  more  time  for 
deliberation.  They  were  all  obliged  to  take 
their  seats  as  the  conductor  called  off  the  names 
from  his  way  bill.  The  two  ladies  entered  the 
coupe  in  company  with  the  Russian,  while  Mr. 
Howland  ascended  by  the  step  ladder  to  his  seat 
on  the  banquette.  While  the  passengers  were 
thus  getting  seated  the  postilions  were  putting  in 


BO 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Our  happiness  does  not  depend  on  outward  circumstances. 


the  horses,  and  in  a  moment  more  the  diligence 
set  off. 

Now,  here  were  four  persons  setting  out  on  a 
pleasant  morning,  in  a  good  carriage,  to  take  the 
drive  from  Naples  to  Rome  —  one  of  the  most 
charming  drives  that  the  whole  tour  of  Europe 
affords,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  was  in  a  con¬ 
dition  to  enjoy  it.  Every  one  was  dissatisfied, 
out  of  humor,  and  unhappy.  The  Russian  gen¬ 
tleman  was  displeased  with  Mr.  Howland  for 
asking  him  to  give  up  his  seat,  and  he  felt  un¬ 
comfortable  and  ill  at  ease  in  being  shut  up  with 
two  ladies,  who  he  knew  were  displeased  with 
him  for  not  giving  it  up.  The  bride  was  vexed 
with  the  Russian  for  insisting  on  his  place  in  the 
coup6,  and  with  her  sister  for  not  being  willing 
to  go  into  the  interior,  so  that  she  might  ride 
with  her  husband.  Miss  Louise  was  offended  at 
having  been  asked  to  sit  in  the  interior,  which 
request,  she  said  to  herself,  was  only  part  of  a 
systematic  plan,  which  her  sister  seemed  to  have 
adopted  for  the  whole  journey,  to  make  herself 
the  principal  personage  in  every  thing,  and  to 
treat  her,  Louise,  as  if  she  was  of  no  consequence 
whatever.  And  last  of  all,  Mr.  Howland,  on  the 
banquette  above,  was  out  of  humor  with  himself 
for  having  asked  the  Russian  to  give  up  his  seat, 
and  thus  subjected  himself  to  the  mortification  of 


The  Diligence  Office. 


31 


Travelling  in  Europe  not  always  pleasure. 

a  refusal,  and  with  his  wife  for  having  required 
him  to  ask  it. 

Thus  they  were  all  at  heart  uncomfortable  and 
unhappy,  and  as  the  horses  trotted  swiftly  on 
along  the  smooth  and  beautiful  road  which  trav¬ 
erses  the  rich  campagna  of  Naples,  on  the  way  to 
Capua,  the  splendid  scenery  was  wholly  disre¬ 
garded  by  every  one  of  them. 

Now,  it  is  very  often  so  with  parties  travelling 
in  Europe.  The  external  circumstances  are  all 
perhaps  extremely  favorable,  and  they  are  passing 
through  scenes  or  visiting  places  which  they  have 
thought  of  and  dreamed  of  at  home  with  beating 
hearts  for  many  years.  And  yet  now  that  the 
time  has  come,  and  the  enjoyment  is  before  them, 
there  is  some  internal  source  of  disquiet,  some 
mental  vexation  or  annoyance,  some  secret  resent¬ 
ment  or  heart-burning,  arising  out  of  the  circum¬ 
stances  in  which  they  are  placed,  or  the  relations 
which  they  sustain  to  one  another,  which  destroys 
their  peace  and  quiet  of  mind,  and  of  course  in¬ 
capacitates  them  for  any  real  happiness.  So  that, 
on  the  whole,  judging  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
tourists  in  Europe,  I  should  say  that  those  that 
travel  do  not  after  all,  in  general,  really  pass  their 
time  more  happily  than  those  who  remain  at  home. 

I  have  two  reasons  for  saying  these  things. 
One  is,  that  those  of  you  who  have  no  oppor- 


32 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


Reasons  for  these  explanations. 

tunity  to  travel,  may  be  more  contented  to  re¬ 
main  at  home,  and  not  imagine  that  those  of 
your  friends  who  go  abroad,  necessarily  pass  their 
time  so  much  more  happily  than  you  do.  The 
other  reason  is,  that  when  you  do  travel,  either  in 
our  own  country  or  in  foreign  lands,  you  should 
be  more  reasonable  and  considerate,  and  pay  more 
regard  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  others,  than 
travellers  usually  do.  Most  of  the  disquietudes 
and  heart-burnings  which  arise  to  mar  the  happi¬ 
ness  of  parties  travelling,  come  from  the  selfish¬ 
ness  of  our  hearts,  which  seems,  in  some  way  or 
other,  to  bring  itself  out  more  into  view  when 
we  are  on  a  long  journey  together  than  at  any 
other  time.  In  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  life, 
this  selfishness  is  covered  and  concealed  by  the 
veil  of  politeness  prescribed  by  the  forms  and 
usages  of  society.  This  veil  is,  however,  very 
thin,  and  it  soon  disappears  entirely,  in  the  famil¬ 
iar  intercourse  which  is  necessarily  produced  by 
the  incidents  and  adventures  of  a  journey.  In 
being  daily  and  hourly  with  each  other  for  a 
long  time,  people  appear  just  as  they  really  are  ; 
and  unless  they  are  really  reasonable,  considerate, 
and  just  towards  one  another,  they  are  sure  sooner 
or  later  to  disagree. 

But  though  the  bridal  party  were  very  much 
out  of  humor  with  each  other,  as  we  have  seen, 


The  Diligence  Office. 


33 


Mr.  George  and  Iloilo  take  their  seats. 


Mr.  George  and  Rollo  were  entirely  free  from 
any  such  uneasiness.  They  both  felt  very  light¬ 
hearted  and  happy.  They  rambled  about  the 
court  yard  till  they  had  seen  all  that  there  was 
there  to  interest  them,  and  then  they  went  to  their 
own  diligence.  They  opened  the  coup6  door 
and  looked  in. 

“  Our  seats  are  Nos.  1  and  2,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  One  of  them  is 
next  the  window,  and  the  other  is  in  the  middle. 
You  may  get  .in  first,  and  take  the  seat  by  the 
window.” 

“  No,  uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “  you  had 
better  have  the  seat  by  the  window.” 

“We  will  take  turns  for  that  seat,”  said  Mr. 
George,  “  and  you  shall  begin.” 

Mr.  George  arranged  it  to  have  Rollo  take  his 
turn  first,  because  he  knew  very  well  that,  in  the 
beginning  of  a  journey,  such  a  boy  as  Rollo  was 
always  full  of  enthusiasm  and  excitement ;  and 
that,  consequently,  he  would  enjoy  riding  at  the 
window  much  more  at  first  than  at  a  later  period. 
So  Rollo  got  in  and  took  his  seat,  and  Mr.  George 
followed  him.  In  a  very  few  minutes  afterwards, 
the  postilions  came  out  with  the  horses. 

But  I  have  something  particular  to  say  about 
the  postilions  and  the  horses,  and  I  will  say  it  in 
the  next  chapter. 

3 


34 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


'xhe  postilions. 


TLcir  seats. 


Their  dress. 


Chapter  II. 

The  Journey. 

There  are  a  great  many  curious  things  to  be 
observed  in  travelling  by  the  public  conveyances 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  One  is  the  way  of 
driving  the  horses.  It  is  a  very  common  thing 
to  have  them  driven,  not  by  coachmen,  but  by 
postilions.  There  is  a  postilion  for  each  pair  of 
horses,  and  he  sits  upon  the  nigh  horse  of  the 
pair.  Thus  he  rides  and  drives  at  the  same  time. 

In  these  cases  there  is  no  driver’s  seat  in  front 
of  the  coach.  Or  if  there  is  a  seat  in  front,  it  is 
occupied  by  the  passengers.  All  the  driving  is 
done  by  the  postilions. 

The  postilions  dress  in  a  sort  of  livery,  which 
is  quite  gay  in  its  appearance,  being  trimmed  with 
red.  The  collars  and  the  lapels  of  their  jackets, 
too,  are  ornamented  here  and  there  with  figures 
of  stage  horns  and  other  emblems  of  their  pro¬ 
fession.  They  also  wear  enormously  long  and 
stout  boots.  These  boots  come  up  above  their 
knees.  They  carry  only  a  short  whip,  for  they 


The  Journey. 


35 


Appearance  of  the  diligence. 


Kollo  likes  the  postilions. 


only  have  to  whip  the  horse  that  they  are  upon, 
and  the  one  which  is  by  the  side  of  him,  and  so 
they  do  not  have  to  reach  very  far.  When  there 
are  four  horses,  there  are  two  postilions,  and  when 
there  are  six,  three. 

A  large  diligence,  with  six  horses,  and  a  gayly 
dressed  postilion  mounted  on  one  of  the  horses 
of  each  pair,  makes  a  very  grand  appearance,  you 
may  depend,  in  coming,  upon  the  gallop,  into  the 
streets  of  a  town  —  the  postilions  cracking  their 
whips,  and  making  as  much  noise  as  they  can,  and 
all  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  street  coming  to  the 
doors  and  windows  to  see. 

“  I  am  glad  we  are  going  to  have  postilions, 
uncle  George,”  said  Hollo,  as  they  were  getting 
into  the  coach. 

“  Why  ?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

“  Because  I  like  the  looks  of  them,”  said  Rollo  ; 
“  and  then  we  always  go  faster,  too,  when  we 
have  postilions.  Besides,  when  there  is  a  seat 
for  a  driver  on  the  coach,  it  blocks  up  our  front 
windows ;  but  now  our  windows  are  all  clear.” 

“  Those  are  excellent  reasons  —  all  of  them,” 
said  Mr.  George. 

The  postilions  did  indeed  drive  very  fast, 
when  they  once  got  upon  the  road.  There  was  a 
delay  of  half  an  hour,  at  the  gate  of  the  city, 
for  the  examination  of  the  passports  ;  during 


36 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Leaving  the  gates. 


Appearance  of  the  country. 


which  time  the  postilions,  having  dismounted  from 
their  horses,  stood  talking  together,  and  playing 
off  jokes  upon  each  other.  At  length,  when  the 
passports  were  ready,  they  sprang  into  their  sad¬ 
dles,  and  set  the  horses  off  upon  the  run. 

The  road,  on  leaving  the  gates,  entered  a  wide 
and  beautiful  avenue,  which  was  at  this  time 
fdled  with  peasants  coming  into  town,  for  that 
day  was  market  day  in  Naples.  The  people 
coming  in  were  dressed  in  the  most  curious  cos¬ 
tumes.  Multitudes  were  on  foot,  others  rode 
crowded  together  in  donkey  carts.  Some  rode 
on  the  backs  of  donkeys,  with  a  load  of  farming 
produce  before  or  behind  them.  The  women,  in 
such  cases,  sat  square  upon  the  donkey’s  back, 
with  both  their  feet  hanging  down  on  one  side  ] 
and  they  banged  the  donkey  with  their  heels  to 
make  him  get  out  of  the  way  so  that  the  diligence 
could  go  by. 

The  country  was  very  rich  and  beautiful,  and 
it  was  cultivated  every  where  like  a  garden. 
Here  and  there  were  groves  of  mulberries,  — 
the  tree  on  which  the  silk  worm  feeds, — and 
there  were  vineyards,  with  the  vines  just  bursting 
into  leaf,  and  now  and  then  a  little  garden  of 
orange  trees.  In  the  mean  time  the  postilions 
kept  cracking  their  whips,  and  the  horses  gal¬ 
loped  on  at  such  a  speed  that  Rollo  had  scarcely 


The  Journey. 


37 


Conversation  about  silk  worms. 

time  to  see  the  objects  by  the  road  side,  they 
glided  so  swiftly  by. 

“  Won't  the  silk  worms  eat  any  kind  of  leaves 
but  mulberry  leaves  ?  "  he  asked. 

“  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  “  at  least  the  mul¬ 
berry  silk  worms  will  not.  There  are  a  great 
many  different  kinds  of  silk  worms  in  the  world ; 
that  is,  there  are  a  great  many  different  kinds  of 
caterpillars  that  spin  a  thread  and  make  a  ball 
to  wrap  up  their  eggs  in,  and  each  one  lives  on  a 
different  plant  or  tree.  If  you  watch  the  cater¬ 
pillars  in  a  garden,  you  will  see  that  each  kind 
lives  on  some  particular  leaf,  and  will  not  touch 
any  other." 

“Yes,"  said  Hollo,  “we  found  a  big  caterpil¬ 
lar  once  on  the  caraway  in  our  garden,  and 
we  shut  him  up  in  a  box,  in  order  to  see  what 
sort  of  a  butterfly  he  would  turn  into,  and  we 
gave  him  different  kinds  of  leaves  to  eat,  but  he 
would  not  eat  any  but  caraway  leaves." 

“  And  what  became  of  him  at  last  ?  "  asked 
Mr.  George. 

“  0,  he  turned  into  a  butterfly,"  said  Kollo. 
11  First  he  turned  into  a  chrysalis,  and  then  he 
turned  into  a  butterfly." 

“  There  are  a  great  many  different  kinds  of  silk 
worms,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  but  in  order  to  find 
one  that  can  be  made  useful,  there  are  several 
conditions  to  be  fulfilled." 


38 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Essentials.  The  Society  of  Acclimatation. 

“  What  do  you  mean  by  conditions  to  be  ful¬ 
filled?77  asked  Rollo. 

“  Why,  I  mean  that  there  are  several  things 
necessary,  in  order  that  the  silk  worm  should  be 
a  good  one  to  make  silk  from.  In  the  first  place, 
the  fibre  of  the  silk  that  he  spins  must  be  fine, 
and  also  strong.  In  the  next  place,  it  must  easily 
unwind  from  the  cocoon.  Then  the  animal  must 
be  a  tolerably  hardy  one,  so  as  to  be  easily  raised 
in  great  numbers.  Then  the  plant  or  tree  that 
it  feeds  upon  must  be  a  thrifty  and  hardy  one, 
and  easily  cultivated.  The  mulberry  silk  worm 
has  been  found  to  answer  to  these  conditions 
better  than  any  hitherto  known  ;  but  there  are 
some  others  that  I  believe  they  are  now  trying, 
in  order  to  see  if  they  will  not  be  better  still. 
They  are  looking  about  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
to  see  what  they  can  find.77 

“  Who  are  looking  ? 77  asked  Rollo. 

“  The  Society  of  Acclimatation,77  replied  Mr. 
George.  “  That  is  a  society  founded  in  Paris, 
and  extending  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  that  is 
employed  in  finding  new  plants  and  new  animals 
that  can  be  made  useful  to  man,  or  finding  some 
that  are  useful  to  man  in  one  country,  and  so  in¬ 
troducing  them  into  other  countries.  They  are 
trying  specially  to  find  new  silk  worms.77 

“  There  are  some  kinds  of  caterpillars  in  Amer- 


% 


The  Journey. 


39 


Managing  the  cocoons. 


The  inn. 


ica,”  said  Kollo,  “that  wind  their  silk  up  into 
balls.  I  mean  to  get  some  of  the  balls  when  I 
go  home,  and  see  if  I  can  unwind  them.” 

“That  will  be  an  excellent  plan,”  said  Mr. 
George. 

“  If  I  can  only  find  the  end,”  said  Kollo. 

“  There  must  be  some  art  required  to  find  the 
end,”  rejoined  Mr.  George,  “  and  then  I  believe 
there  is  some  preparation  which  is  necessary  to 
make  the  cocoons  unwind.” 

“  I  wish  I  knew  what  it  was,”  said  Kollo. 

“  You  can  inquire  of  some  of  the  people  when 
we  stop  to  dine,”  replied  Mr.  George. 

“But  I  don’t  know  enough  Italian  for  that,” 
said  Kollo. 

“  That’s  a  pity,”  said  Mr.  George. 

In  the  mean  time  the  horses  trotted  and  gal¬ 
loped  on  until  they  had  gone  about  ten  miles,  and 
then  at  length  the  postilions  brought  them  up  at 
the  door  of  an  inn,  in  a  village.  Fresh  horses 
were  standing  all  ready  at  the  door,  with  new 
postilions.  The  postilions  that  had  been  driving 
took  out  their  horses  and  led  them  away,  and 
then  came  themselves  to  the  window  of  the 
coup6  and  held  out  their  caps  for  their  buono 
mano,  as  they  call  it ;  that  is,  for  a  small  present. 

Every  body  in  Italy,  who  performs  any  service, 
expects,  in  addition  to  being  paid  the  price  regu- 


40 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Buono  manos.  Stopping  for  some  coffee. 

larly  agreed  upon  for  the  service,  to  receive  a 
present,  greater  or  smaller  according  to  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  case.  This  present  is  called  the  buo¬ 
no  mano .* 

The  postilions  always  expect  a  buono  mano 
from  the  passengers  in  the  stage  coach,  especially 
from  those  who  ride  in  the  coupe. 

Rollo  gave  them  a  few  coppers  each,  for  him¬ 
self  and  for  Mr.  George,  and  just  as  he  had  done 
so,  a  young  man  without  any  hat  upon  his  head, 
but  with  a  white  napkin  under  his  arm,  came  out 
of  the  hotel,  and  advancing  to  the  window  of  the 
coup6  asked  Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  in  French,  if 
they  wished  to  take  any  thing. 

“  No/7  said  Mr.  George.  “  Not  any  thing.77 

“  Yes,  uncle  George/7  said  Rollo,  “let  us  go 
and  see  what  they  have  got.77 

He  said  this,  of  course,  in  English,  but  imme¬ 
diately  changing  his  language  into  French,  he 
asked  the  waiter  what  they  could  have. 

The  waiter  said  that  they  could  have  some 
hot  coffee.  There  would  not  be  time  for  any 
thing  else. 

“  Let  us  have  some  hot  coffee,  uncle  George/7 
said  Rollo,  eagerly. 

“Very  well/7  said  Mr.  George. 


*  Pronounced  bono  mahno. 


The  Journey. 


41 


The  journey  resumed.  The  road.  Mountains. 

So  Hollo  gave  the  order,  and  the  waiter  went 
into  the  house.  In  a  moment  he  returned  with 
two  cups  of  very  nice  coffee,  which  he  brought 
on  a  tray.  By  this  time,  however,  the  fresh 
horses  were  almost  harnessed,  so  that  it  was 
necessary  to  drink  the  coffee  quick.  But  there 
was  no  difficulty  in  doing  this,  for  it  was  very 
nice,  and  not  too  hot.  Hollo  had  barely  time  to 
give  back  the  cups  and  pay  for  the  coffee  before 
the  diligence  began  to  move.  The  postilions 
started  the  horses  with  a  strange  sort  of  a  cry, 
that  they  uttered  while  standing  beside  them, 
and  then  leaped  into  the  saddles  just  as  they  were 
beginning  to  run. 

The  journey  was  continued  much  in  this  way 
during  the  whole  day.  The  country  was  delight¬ 
ful  ;  the  road  was  hard  and  smooth  as  a  floor,  and 
the  horses  went  very  fast.  In  a  word,  Hollo  had 
a  capital  ride. 

After  traversing  a  comparatively  level  country 
for  some  miles,  the  road  entered  a  mountainous 
region,  where  there  was  a  long  ascent.  At  the 
foot  of  this  ascent  was  a  post  house,  and  here 
they  put  on  six  horses  instead  of  four.  Of  course 
there  were  now  three  postilions.  But  although 
the  country  was  mountainous,  the  ascent  was  not 
steep,  for  the  road  was  carried  up  by  means  of 
long  windings  and  zigzags,  in  such  a  manner  that 


42 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Situation  of  Mola  di  Gaeta  on  the  sea. 

the  rise  was  very  regular  and  gradual  all  the 
way.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  six  horses 
took  the  diligence  on  almost  as  fast  up  the  moun¬ 
tains  as  the  four  had  done  on  the  level  ground. 

About  five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  the  dili¬ 
gence  made  a  good  stop,  in  order  to  allow  the 
passengers  to  dine. 

“We  will  go  in  and  take  dinner  with  the  rest,” 
said  Mr.  George,  “and  so  save  the  things  that 
we  have  put  up  for  a  moonlight  supper  on  the 
Pontine  Marshes.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Rollo,  “  I  shall  like  that  very  much. 
Besides,  I  want  to  go  and  take  dinner  with  them 
here,  for  I  want  to  see  how  they  do  it.” 

The  place  where  the  diligence  stopped  was  a 
town  called  Mola  di  Gaeta.  It  stood  in  a  very 
picturesque  situation,  near  the  sea.  For  though 
the  road,  in  leaving  Naples,  had  led  at  first  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  and  had  since  been 
winding  about  among  the  mountains,  it  had  now 
come  down  again  to  the  margin  of  the  sea. 

The  entrance  to  the  hotel  was  under  a  great 
archway.  There  were  doors  to  the  right  and 
left  from  this  archway,  leading  to  staircases  and 
to  apartments.  The  passengers  from  the  dili¬ 
gence  were  conducted  through  one  of  these  doors 
into  a  very  ancient  looking  hall,  where  there  was 
a  table  set  for  dinner,  with  plates  enough  for 


The  Journey. 


48 


The  dinner  table  at  the  inn.  Mode  of  serving. 

twenty  persons  —  that  being  about  the  number 
of  passengers  contained  in  the  various  compart¬ 
ments  of  the  diligence. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  arched  way  was  a 
door  leading  to  another  hall,  where  there  was  a 
table  set  for  the  conductor  and  the  postilions. 

After  waiting  a  few  minutes,  the  company  of 
passengers  took  their  seats  at  the  table.  Besides 
the  plates  for  the  guests,  there  was  a  row  of 
dishes  extending  up  and  down  the  middle  of  the 
table,  containing  apples,  pears,  oranges,  nuts,  rai¬ 
sins,  little  cakes,  and  bon-bons  of  various  kinds. 
There  were  also  in  this  row  two  vases  containing 
flowers. 

Excepting  these  fruits  and  sweetmeats,  there 
was  nothing  eatable  upon  the  table  when  the 
guests  sat  down.  It  is  not  customary  in  Euro¬ 
pean  dinners  to  put  any  thing  upon  the  table  ex¬ 
cept  the  dessert. 

The  other  dishes  are  brought  round,  and  pre¬ 
sented  one  by  one  to  each  guest.  First  came  the 
soup.  When  the  soup  had  been  eaten,  and  the 
soup  plates  had  been  removed,  then  there  was 
boiled  beef.  The  beef  was  upon  two  dishes,  one 
for  each  side  of  the  table.  It  was  cut  very 
nicely  in  slices,  and  each  dish  had  a  fork  and  a 
spoon  in  it,  for  the  guests  to  help  themselves  with. 
The  dishes  were  carried  along  the  sides  of  the 


44 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Bon-bons  for  dessert.  Paying.  Buono  manos. 


table  by  the  waiters,  and  offered  to  each  guest, 
the  guests  helping  themselves  in  succession  to 
such  pieces  as  they  liked. 

After  the  beef  had  been  eaten,  the  plates  were 
all  changed,  and  then  came  a  course  of  fried  po¬ 
tatoes  ;  then,  after  another  change  of  plates,  a 
course  of  mutton  chops  ;  then  green  peas ;  then 
roast  beef ;  then  cauliflower  with  drawn  butter ; 
then  roast  chicken  with  salad  ;  and  lastly,  some 
puddings.  For  each  separate  article  of  all  this  din¬ 
ner  there  was  a  fresh  plate  furnished  to  each  guest. 

After  the  pudding  plates  were  removed,  small 
plates  for  the  dessert  were  furnished ;  and  then  the 
fruit,  and  the  nuts,  and  the  bon-bons  were  served  ; 
and  the  dinner  was  over. 

For  every  two  guests  there  was  a  decanter  of 
wine.  At  least  it  was  what  they  called  wine, 
though  in  taste  it  was  more  like  sour  cider.  The 
people  generally  used  it  by  pouring  a  little  of  it 
into  their  water. 

When  the  dinner  was  over,  the  passengers  all 
paid  the  amount  that  was  charged  for  it,  and 
each  gave,  besides,  a  buono  mano  to  the  waiter 
who  had  waited  upon  his  side  of  the  table.  By 
this  time  the  diligence  was  ready,  and  they  all 
went  and  took  their  seats  in  it  again. 

The  sun  was  now  going  down,  and  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  the  last  of  its  rays  were  seen 


The  Journey. 


45 


Drawing  near  the  frontier.  Baggage  not  examined. 

gilding  the  summits  of  the  mountains.  Soon  after¬ 
wards  the  evening  began  to  come  on. 

“  Before  a  great  while,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  we 
shall  begin  to  draw  near  to  the  frontier.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Rollo,  “  the  frontier  between  the 
kingdom  of  Naples  and  the  dominions  of  the 
pope.  They  will  examine  the  baggage  there,  I 
suppose.” 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  they  will  not  ex¬ 
amine  the  baggage  till  we  get  to  Rome.” 

“  I  thought  they  always  examined  the  baggage 
at  the  frontier,  when  we  came  into  any  new  coun¬ 
try,”  said  Rollo. 

“  They  do,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  unless  the  bag¬ 
gage  is  under  the  charge  of  public  functionaries ; 
and  then,  to  save  time,  they  often  take  it  into  the 
capital,  and  examine  it  there.  I  asked  one  of 
the  passengers  at  the  dinner  table,  and  he  said 
that  the  trunks  were  not  to  be  opened  till  we  get 
to  Rome.” 

“  They  will  examine  the  passports,  I  suppose,” 
said  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  replied  Mr.  George,  “  they  will,  un¬ 
doubtedly,  examine  the  passports  at  the  frontier.” 

You  cannot  pass  from  one  country  in  Europe 
to  another,  any  where,  without  stopping  at  the 
last  military  station  of  the  country  that  you  leave, 
to  have  your  passport  examined  and  stamped,  in 


46 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Examination  of  passports.  Change  of  diligence. 

token  of  permission  given  you  to  go  out,  and 
also  at  the  first  military  station  of  the  country 
which  you  are  about  to  enter,  to  have  them  ex¬ 
amined  and  stamped  again,  in  token  of  permission 
to  come  in.  All  this,  as  you  may  suppose,  is  very 
troublesome.  Besides  that,  there  are  fees  to  pay, 
which,  in  the  course  of  a  long  journey,  amount 
to  a  considerable  sum. 

Besides  the  passport  business  which  was  to  be 
attended  to,  there  was  a  grand  change  of  the 
diligence  establishment  at  the  frontier.  The 
coach  itself,  which  came  from  Naples,  and  also 
the  conductor  and  postilions,  were  all  left  at  the 
border,  and  the  passengers  were  transferred  to  a 
new  turnout  which  came  from  Rome.  Indeed, 
there  was  a  double  change  ;  for  the  Roman  dili¬ 
gence  brought  a  load  of  passengers  from  Rome 
to  meet  the  Neapolitan  one  at  the  border,  and 
thus  each  company  of  travellers  had  to  be  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  establishment  belonging  to  the  coun¬ 
try  which  they  were  entering. 

This  change  was  made  in  a  post  house,  in  a 
solitary  place  near  the  frontier.  It  caused  a 
detention  of  nearly  an  hour,  there  were  so  many 
formalities  to  go  through.  It  was  late  in  the 
evening,  and  the  work  was  done  by  the  light  of 
torches  and  lanterns.  The  two  diligences  were 
backed  up  against  each  other,  and  then  all  the 


The  Journey. 


47 


The  manner  of  changing  the  baggage  from  one  diligence  to  the  other. 

trunks  and  baggage  were  transferred  from  the  top 
of  one  coach  to  the  top  of  the  other,  without 
being  taken  down  at  all.  The  baggage  in  these 
diligences  is  always  packed  upon  the  top. 

You  would  think  that  this  would  make  the 
coach  top  heavy,  and  so  it  does  in  some  degree  ; 
but  then  the  body  of  the  coach  below  is  so  large 
and  heavy,  that  the  extra  weight  above  is  well 
counterpoised  ;  and  then,  besides,  the  roads  are 
so  smooth  and  level,  and  withal  so  hard,  that 
there  is  no  danger  of  an  upset. 

The  work  of  shifting  the  baggage  from  one 
diligence  to  the  other  was  performed  under  an 
archway.  There  was  a  door  leading  from  this 
archway  into  a  large  office,  where  the  two  com¬ 
panies  of  passengers  were  assembled,  waiting  for 
the  coaches  to  be  ready.  All  these  passengers 
were  loaded  with  carpet  bags,  knapsacks,  valises, 
bundles  of  umbrellas  and  canes,  and  other  such 
light  baggage  which  they  had  had  with  them  in¬ 
side  the  coaches.  Many  of  them  were  sitting  on 
chairs  and  benches  around  the  sides  of  the  room, 
with  their  baggage  near  them.  Others  were  walk¬ 
ing  about  the  room,  changing  money  with  each 
other  ;  that  is,  those  that  were  going  from  Rome 
to  Naples  were  changing  the  Rojnan  money, 
which  they  had  left,  for  Neapolitan  money.  The 
money  of  one  of  these  countries  does  not  circu- 


48 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Changing  money.  Changes  completed. 

late  well  in  the  other  country.  In  the  middle  of 
the  room  was  a  great  table,  where  the  conductors 
and  other  officials  were  at  work  with  papers  and 
accounts.  Rollo  could  not  understand  what  they 
were  doing. 

Rollo  walked  about  the  office,  looking  at  the 
different  passengers,  and  observing  what  was 
going  on,  while  Mr.  George  remained  near  the 
coaches,  to  watch  the  transfer  of  the  baggage. 

“  I  want  to  be  sure/7  said  Mr.  George,  “  that 
our  trunk  is  there,  and  that  they  shift  it  over  to 
the  Roman  coach.” 

“  They  are  changing  money  inside,”  said  Rollo. 
“Have  you  got  any  that  you  want  to  have 
changed  ?  ” 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  I  did  not  know 
that  we  could  change  here  ;  and  I  calculated 
closely,  and  planned  it  so  as  not  to  have  any  of 
the  Naples  money  left.” 

“  I  have  got  only  two  or  three  pieces,”  said 
Rollo,  “  and  those  I  am  going  to  carry  home  to 
America  for  coins.” 

At  length  the  changes  were  completed,  and 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  and  also  all  the  other 
passengers  who  had  come  in  the  diligence  from 
Naples,  began  to  take  their  places  in  the  coach  for 
Rome  ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  other  company 
got  into  the  Naples  coach,  which  was  now  going 


THE  PONTINE  MARSHES. 


The  Journey. 


51 


Description  of  the  Pontine  Marshes. 

to  return.  The  conductor  came  for  his  buono 
manoj  the  new  horses  were  harnessed  in,  the  pos¬ 
tilions  leaped  into  the  saddles,  and  thus  both 
parties  set  out  upon  their  night  ride.  It  was  not 
far  from  nine  o’clock. 

“  And  now,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  before  a  great 
while  we  shall  come  upon  the  Pontine  Marshes.” 

The  Pontine  Marshes  form  an  immense  tract 
of  low  and  level  land,  which  have  been  known 
and  celebrated  in  history  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years.  Though  called  marshes,  they  are  so  far 
drained  by  ancient  canals  that  the  land  is  firm 
enough  for  grass  to  grow  upon  it,  and  for  flocks 
of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle  to  feed  ;  but  yet  it 
is  so  low  and  so  unhealthy,  that  it  is  utterly  un¬ 
inhabitable  by  man.  The  extent  of  these  marshes 
is  immense.  The  road  traverses  them  in  a  direct 
line,  and  on  a  perfect  level,  for  twenty-five  or 
thirty  miles,  without  passing  a  single  habitation, 
except  the  post  houses,  and  in  the  middle  a  soli¬ 
tary  inn. 

And  yet  there  is  nothing  desolate  or  dreary  in 
the  aspect  of  the  Pontine  Marshes.  On  the  con¬ 
trary  the  view  on  every  side,  in  passing  across 
them,  is  extremely  beautiful.  The  road  is  wide, 
and  smooth,  and  level,  and  is  bordered  on  each 
side  with  a  double  row  of  very  ancient  and  ven¬ 
erable  trees,  which  give  to  it,  for  the  whole  dis- 


52 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  canal.  The  meadow.  Change  of  horses. 


tance,  the  character  of  a  magnificent  avenue. 
Think  of  a  broad  and  handsome  avenue,  running 
straight  as  an  arrow  for  twenty-five  miles  ! 

Beyond  the  trees,  on  one  side,  there  is  a  wide 
canal.  This  canal  runs  parallel  to  the  road,  and 
you  often  meet  boats  coming  or  going  upon  it. 
Beyond  the  canal,  and  beyond  the  trees  on  the 
other  side,  there  extends,  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach,  one  vast  expanse  of  living  green,  as  smooth 
and  beautiful  as  can  be  imagined.  This  immense 
tract  of  meadow  is  divided  here  and  there  by 
hedges  or  palings,  and  now  and  then  a  pretty 
grove  appears  to  vary  the  scene.  Immense  flocks 
of  sheep,  and  herds  of  horses  and  cattle,  are  seen 
feeding  every  where,  and  sometimes  herdsmen,  on 
horseback  galloping  to  and  fro,  attending  to 
their  charge. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  had  had  a  fine  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  see  the  scenery  of  the  Pontine  Marshes 
when  they  came  to  Naples,  for  then  they  crossed 
them  by  day  light.  Now,  however,  it  was  night, 
and  there  was  not  much  to  be  seen  except  the 
gnarled  and  venerable  trunks  of  the  trees,  on 
each  side  of  the  road,  as  the  light  of  the  dili¬ 
gence  lanterns  flashed  upon  them. 

The  postilions  drove  exceedingly  fast  all  the 
way  over  the  marshes.  The  stage  stopped  three 
times  to  change  horses.  Mr.  George  kept  up  a 


The  Journey. 


53 


Danger  in  sleeping  while  on  the  marshes. 

continual  conversation  with  Kollo  all  the  way, 
in  order  to  prevent  him  from  going  to  sleep  ;  for, 
as  I  have  said  before,  it  is  considered  dangerous 
to  sleep  while  on  the  marshes. 

About  midnight  Kollo  proposed  that  they 
should  eat  their  supper. 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  we  will  keep  our 
supper  for  the  last  thing.  As  long  as  we  can 
keep  awake  without  it  we  will.” 

So  they  went  on  for  two  hours  longer.  About 
one  o’clock  the  moon  rose,  and  the  moonbeams 
shining  in  through  the  windows  of  the  coupe,  en¬ 
livened  the  interior  very  much. 

“  The  moonlight  makes  it  a  great  deal  pleas¬ 
anter,”  said  Kollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  and  it  will  make  it 
a  great  deal  more  convenient  for  us  to  eat  our 
supper.” 

The  diligence  stopped  at  a  post  house  to  change 
horses,  a  little  before  two,  and  immediately  after 
it  set  out  again.  Mr.  George  said  that  it  was 
time  for  them  to  take  their  supper.  So  Kollo 
opened  the  two  bags,  and  took  out  from  one  the 
chicken  and  the  two  rolls,  and  from  the  other  the 
bottle  of  coffee  and  the  oranges.  He  placed  the 
things,  as  he  took  them  out,  in  a  large  pocket  be¬ 
fore  him,  in  the  front  of  the  coupA  Mr.  George 
took  two  newspapers  out  of  his  knapsack,  one  for 


54 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


A  late  supper.  Leaving  the  marshes. 

Rollo  and  one  for  himself,  to  spread  in  their  laps 
while  they  were  eating.  Then,  with  a  sharp 
blade  of  his  pocket  knife,  he  began  to  carve  the 
chicken. 

The  chicken  was  very  tender,  and  the  rolls 
were  very  nice  ;  and  as,  moreover,  both  the  travel¬ 
lers  were  quite  hungry,  they  found  the  supper  in 
all  respects  excellent.  For  drink,  they  had  the 
juice  of  the  oranges.  To  drink  this  juice,  they 
cut  a  round  hole  in  one  end  of  the  orange,  and 
then  run  the  blade  of  the  knife  in,  in  all  direc¬ 
tions,  so  as  to  break  up  the  pulp.  They  could 
then  drink  out  the  juice  very  conveniently. 

At  the  close  of  the  supper  they  drank  the 
coffee.  The  coffee  was  cold,  it  is  true,  but  it 
was  very  good,  and  it  made  an  excellent  ending 
to  the  meal. 

They  made  the  supper  last  as  long  as  possible, 
in  order  to  occupy  the  time.  It  was  three  o’clock 
before  it  was  finished  and  the  papers  cleared 
away.  At  half  past  three,  Rollo,  in  looking  out 
at  the  window,  saw  a  sort  of  bank  by  the  side  of 
the  road  ;  and  on  observing  attentively,  he  per¬ 
ceived  that  there  was  a  curve  in  the  road  itself, 
before  them. 

“  Uncle  George,”  said  he,  “  we  have  got  off  the 
marshes !  ” 

“  I  verily  believe  we  have,”  said  Mr.  George. 


The  Journey. 


55 


Mr.  George  and  Hollo  compose  themselves  to  sleep. 


“  So  now  we  may  go  to  sleep,”  said  Kollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  I’ll  lay  my  head 
over  into  the  corner,  and  you  may  lie  against  my 
shoulder.” 

So  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  placed  themselves  in 
as  comfortable  a  position  as  possible,  and  com¬ 
posed  themselves  to  sleep.  They  slept  several 
hours ;  waking  up,  or,  rather,  half  waking  up, 
once  during  the  interval,  while  the  diligence 
stopped  for  the  purpose  of  changing  horses. 
When  they  finally  awoke,  the  sun  was  up  high, 
and  was  shining  in  quite  bright  through  the 
coupe  windows. 


56 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


The  environs  of  Rome.  Appii  Forum  and  the  Three  Taverns. 


Chapter  III. 

The  Arrival  at  Rome. 

When  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  awoke  from 
their  sleep,  they  found  that  they  were  coming 
into  the  environs  of  Rome.  The  country  was 
green  and  beautiful,  but  it  seemed  almost  unin¬ 
habited  ;  and  in  every  direction  were  to  be  seen 
immense  ruins  of  tombs,  and  aqueducts,  and  other 
such  structures,  now  gone  to  decay.  There  was 
an  ancient  road  leading  out  of  Rome  in  this 
direction,  called  the  Appian  Way .  It  was  by 
this  road  that  the  apostle  Paul  travelled,  in 
making  his  celebrated  journey  to  Rome,  after  ap¬ 
pealing  from  the  Jewish  jurisdiction  to  that  of 
Caesar.  Indeed,  the  Appii  Forum  and  the  Three 
Taverns,  places  mentioned  in  the  account  of  this 
journey  contained  in  the  Acts,  were  on  the  very 
road  that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  had  been  travel¬ 
ling  in  their  journey  from  Naples  to  Rome. 

The  remains  of  the  Appian  Way  are  still  to 
be  traced  for  many  miles  south  of  Rome.  The 
road  was  paved,  in  ancient  times,  with  very  large 


The  Arrival  at  Rome. 


57 


Arrival  at  the  city.  Examination  of  passports. 

blocks  of  an  exceedingly  hard  kind  of  stone. 
These  stones  were  of  various  shapes,  but  they 
were  fitted  together  and  flattened  on  the  top, 
and  thus  they  made  a  very  smooth,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  very  solid,  pavement.  In  many 
places  along  the  Appian  Way  this  old  pavement 
still  remains,  and  is  as  good  as  ever. 

At  length  the  diligence  arrived  at  the  gate  of 
the  city.  It  passed  through  an  arched  gateway, 
leading  through  an  ancient  and  very  venerable 
wall,  and  then  stopped  at  the  door  of  a  sort  of 
office  just  within.  There  were  two  soldiers 
walking  to  and  fro  before  the  office. 

“  What  are  we  stopping  for  here  ?  77  asked 
Hollo. 

“  For  the  passports,  I  suppose,”  said  Mr. 
George. 

The  conductor  of  the  diligence  came  to  the 
door  of  the  coupe  and  asked  for  the  passports. 
Mr.  George  gave  him  his  and  Rollons,  and  the 
conductor  carried  them,  together  with  those 
which  he  had  obtained  from  the  other  passengers, 
into  the  office.  He  then  ordered  the  postilions 
to  drive  on. 

“  How  shall  we  get  our  passports  again  ? 77 
asked  Rollo. 

“We  must  send  for  them  to  the  police  office,  I 
suppose,77  said  Mr.  George. 


58 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Curious  sights.  A  singular  procession. 

It  is  very  customary,  in  the  great  capitals  of 
Europe,  for  the  police  to  take  the  passports  of 
travellers,  on  their  arrival  at  the  gates  of  the 
city,  and  direct  them  to  send  for  them  at  the  cen¬ 
tral  police  office  on  the  following  day. 

After  passing  the  gate,  the  diligence  went  on 
a  long  way,  through  a  great  many  narrow  streets, 
leading  into  the  heart  of  the  city.  There  was 
nothing  in  these  streets  to  denote  the  ancient 
grandeur  of  Rome,  excepting  now  and  then  an  old 
and  venerable  ruin,  standing  neglected  among 
the  other  buildings. 

Rollo,  however,  in  looking  out  at  the  windows 
of  the  coupe,  saw  a  great  many  curious  sights,  as 
the  diligence  drove  along.  Among  these  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  was,  a  procession  of  people 
dressed  in  a  most  fantastic  manner,  and  wearing 
masks  which  entirely  concealed  their  faces. 
There  were  two  round  holes  in  the  masks  for  the 
eyes.  Mr.  George  told  Rollo  that  these  were 
men  doing  penance.  They  had  been  condemned 
to  walk  through  the  streets  in  this  way,  as  a 
punishment  for  some  of  their  sins. 

“  Why,  they  treat  them  just  as  if  they  were 
children,77  said  Rollo. 

“They  are  children,77  said  Mr.  George,  “in 
every  thing  but  years.77 

Not  long  after  this,  Rollo  saw  a  very  magnifi- 


DOING  PENANCE. 


The  Arrival  at  Rome. 


61 


The  Cardinal’s  carriage.  Trunks  examined. 

cent  carriage  coming  along.  It  was  perfectly 
resplendent  with  crimson  and  gold.  The  horses, 
too,  and  the  coachman,  and  the  footmen,  were 
gorgeously  caparisoned  and  apparelled  in  the 
same  manner. 

Hollo  pointed  it  out  to  Mr.  George.  Mr. 
George  said  it  was  a  cardinal's  carriage. 

“  I  wish  the  cardinal  was  in  it,"  said  Hollo.  “  I 
would  like  to  have  seen  him." 

“  I  presume  he  would  have  looked  very  much 
like  any  other  man,"  replied  Mr.  George. 

“  Yes,  but  he  would  have  been  dressed  differ¬ 
ently,  wouldn't  he  ?  " 

“  Perhaps  so,"  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Perhaps  he  would  have  had  his  red  hat  on," 
said  Hollo.  “  I  should  like  to  see  a  cardinal 
wearing  his  red  hat." 

The  badge  of  the  cardinal's  office  is  a  hat  and 
dress  of  a  red  color. 

At  length  the  diligence  passed  under  an  arch¬ 
way  which  led  into  a  large  open  court,  similar  to 
the  one  in  Naples  where  the  journey  had  been 
commenced.  The  passengers  got  out,  the  horses 
were  unharnessed,  and  the  baggage  was  taken 
down.  The  trunks  were  all  taken  into  an  office 
pertaining  to  the  custom  house,  to  be  examined  by 
the  officers  there,  in  order  to  see  whether  there 
were  any  contraband  goods  in  them. 


62 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


The  officer  of  customs  evades  his  duty. 


Mr.  George  unlocked  his  trunk  and  lifted  up 
the  lid.  An  officer  came  up  to  the  place,  and 
patting  with  his  hand  upon  the  top  of  the  clothes, 
as  if  to  prevent  Mr.  George  from  lifting  them  up 
to  show  what  was  below,  he  said,  — 

“Very  well ;  very  well  ;  it  is  sufficient.” 

So  saying,  he  shut  down  the  top  of  the  trunk 
again,  and  marked  it,  “  Passed.”  He  then  touched 
his  hat,  and  asked  Mr.  George  if  he  would  make 
some  small  present  for  the  benefit  of  the  custom¬ 
house  officers. 

That  is  to  say,  he  evaded  the  performance  of 
his  duty  as  an  officer  of  the  customs,  in  expecta¬ 
tion  that  the  traveller  would  pay  him  for  his 
delinquency.  Most  travellers  are  very  willing  to 
pay  in  such  cases.  They  have  various  articles  in 
their  trunks  which  they  have  bought  in  other 
countries,  and  which,  strictly  speaking,  are  sub¬ 
ject  to  duty  in  entering  Rome,  and  they  are  will¬ 
ing  to  pay  a  fee  rather  than  to  have  their  trunks 
overhauled.  Others,  of  more  sturdy  morality, 
refuse  to  pay  these  fees.  They  consider  them  as 
of  the  nature  of  bribes.  So  they  say  to  the 
officers,  — 

“  Examine  the  baggage  as  much  as  you  please, 
and  if  you  find  any  duties  due,  I  will  pay  them. 
But  I  will  not  pay  any  bribes.” 

“  Now,  Rollo,”  said  Mr.  George,  when  he  had 


The  Arrival  at  Rome. 


63 


Rollo  engages  a  carriage  by  the  hour. 


got  possession  of  his  trunk,  “  we  want  a  carriage 
to  take  us  and  the  baggage  to  the  hotel.  You 
may  go  and  see  if  you  can  find  one,  and  I  will 
stay  here  and  look  after  the  baggage.  Engage 
the  carriage  by  the  hour. 

So  Rollo  went  out  of  the  court,  and  soon  found 
a  carriage.  Before  he  got  into  it,  he  said  to  the 
ooachman, — 

“  Per  hora  !  ” 

This  means,  By  the  hour. 

At  the  same  time  Rollo  held  up  his  watch 
to  the  coachman,  in  order  to  let  him  see  what 
o’clock  it  was. 

“  Si,  signore ,”  said  the  coachman. 

Si,  signore,  is  the  Italian  for  Yes,  sir. 

Rollo  could  not  say  in  Italian  where  he  wished 
the  coachman  to  go,  and  so  he  stood  up  in  the 
carriage  and  pointed.  Following  his  indications, 
the  coachman  drove  in  through  the  archway  to 
the  court  of  the  post  office,  where  he  found  Mr. 
George  waiting.  The  trunk  and  the  bags  were 
put  upon  the  carriage,  in  front,  and  Mr.  George 
got  in  with  Rollo. 

“Hotel  d’Amerique,”  said  Mr.  George  to  the 
coachman. 

“Si,  signore,”  said  the  coachman,  and  imme¬ 
diately  he  began  to  drive  away. 

The  Hotel  d’Amerique  was  the  one  where  Mr. 


64 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Hotel  d’Amerique  is  full,  and  they  go  to  others. 

George  had  concluded  to  go.  He  had  found  the 
name  and  a  description  of  this  hotel  in  his  guide 
book. 

“  Why  did  you  want  me  to  take  the  carriage 
by  the  hour  ? ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Because  it  is  very  probable,”  said  Mr.  George, 
“  that  we  shall  not  get  in  at  the  Hotel  d’Ame¬ 
rique,  and  in  that  case  we  shall  have  to  go  to 
other  hotels,  and  unless  we  take  him  by  the  hour, 
he  would  charge  a  course  for  every  hotel  that 
we  go  to,  and  the  charge  even  for  two  courses,  is 
more  than  for  an  hour.” 

The  event  showed  that  Mr.  George  was  right 
in  his  calculations.  The  Hotel  d’Amerique  was 
full.  The  waiter,  who  came  out,  as  soon  as  he 
saw  the  carriage  stop  at  the  door,  told  Mr.  George 
this  in  French. 

“  Then  please  tell  our  coachman,”  said  Mr. 
George,  “  to  drive  us  to  any  other  principal 
hotel  that  is  near  here,  and  if  that  is  full,  to 
another  ;  and  so  on,  until  he  finds  a  good  place 
where  they  can  take  us  in.” 

Mr.  George  said  this,  of  course,  in  French. 
The  waiter  delivered  the  message  to  the  coach¬ 
man  in  Italian. 

“Yes,”  said  the  coachman,  to  himself,  “that 
I’ll  do.  But  I  shall  take  good  care  that  you 
don’t  find  any  place  where  you  can  get  in  this 
two  hours,  if  I  can  help  it.” 


The  Arrival  at  Rome. 


65 


The  coachman’s  expedient  to  earn  extra  fares. 

The  reason  why  the  coachman  did  not  wish 
that  his  travellers  should  find  a  hotel  soon  was, 
of  course,  because  he  wished  to  earn  as  much 
money  as  possible  by  driving  them  about. 

He  immediately  began  to  think  what  hotels 
would  be  most  likely  to  be  full,  and  drove  first  to 
those.  The  first  of  all  was  a  hotel,  situated  quite 
near  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  the  one  where 
the  principal  entrance  is  for  all  travellers  coming 
from  the  north.  It  is  called  the  “  Gate  of  the 
People,”  —  or  in  Italian,  Porto  del  Popolo .  The 
gate  opens  into  a  large  triangular  space,  which 
is  called  the  Piazza  del  Popolo .  Piazza ,*  in  Ital¬ 
ian,  means  a  public  square. 

This  Piazza  del  Popolo  is  one  of  the  most  cel¬ 
ebrated  places  in  Rome.  There  are  three  streets 
that  radiate  from  it  directly  through  the  heart  of 
the  town.  Between  the  centre  and  the  two  sido 
streets,  at  the  corners  where  they  come  out  upon 
the  square,  are  two  churches  exactly  alike.  They 
are  called  sometimes  the  twin  churches ,  on  this 
account. 

The  Piazza  del  Popolo  is  a  great  place  for 
public  parades.  On  one  side  is  a  high  ascent, 
with  a  broad  expanse  of  gardens  upon  the  top, 
and  zigzag  roads,  handsomely  walled  up,  and 
ornamented  with  statues  and  fountains,  and  with 

5 


*  Pronounced  Piatza. 


66 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  Hotel  on  the  Piazza  del  Popolo. 


Iiollo’s  expedient. 


marble  seats  placed  here  and  there  for  foot  pas¬ 
sengers  to  rest  themselves  upon,  when  ascending. 

Every  year,  at  the  end  of  what  they  call  Holy 
Week,  they  have  a  great  celebration  of  fireworks 
from  the  side  of  this  hill  and  from  the  terrace 
above  ;  and  then  all  the  people  assemble  in  the 
Piazza  below  to  witness  them. 

But  I  must  go  back  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo. 
The  coachman  stopped  at  a  large  hotel,  fronting 
upon  this  square.  On  inquiring  at  the  bureau, 
(on  the  continent  of  Europe  they  call  an  office  a 
bureau,)  Mr.  George  found  that  all  the  rooms 
were  occupied  except  one  large  apartment,  of 
four  rooms.  This  was,  of  course,  more  than  Mr. 
George  wanted. 

At  the  next  hotel  where  the  coachman  stopped, 
there  were  no  rooms  at  all  vacant,  and  at  the 
next  only  one  small  room,  with  a  single  narrow 
bed  in  it. 

“  If  we  can't  find  any  other,"  said  Rollo,  “  we 
will  come  back  and  take  this,  and  I  will  sleep  on 
the  floor." 

“  0,  no  !  "  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Why,  uncle  George ! "  said  Rollo,  “  I  can 
make  it  very  comfortable  on  the  floor,  by  rolling 
up  two  coats  or  cloaks  into  two  long  rolls,  and 
wedging  them  in  under  me,  one  on  one  side  of 
me  and  the  other  on  the  other,  and  then  putting 


The  Arrival  at  Rome. 


67 


The  travellers  find  quarters  at  last. 


a  carpet  bag  under  my  head  for  a  pillow.  It 
feels  just  as  if  you  were  in  a  good  bed.” 

Mr.  George  smiled,  and  got  into  the  carriage 
again,  and  the  coachman  drove  on. 

After  a  while,  he  stopped  at  the  door  of  a  hotel 
which  stood  in  rather  a  retired  place  among 
narrow  streets,  though  there  was  an  open  space 
in  front  of  it.  Mr.  George  inquired  for  rooms 
here,  and  the  waiter  said  that  they  had  one  left. 

“Are  there  two  beds  in  it?”  asked  Mr. 
George. 

“  No,  sir,”  said  the  waiter,  “  but  we  can  put 
two  beds  in.  Would  you  like  to  go  and  see  it, 
sir?” 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  I  will  take  it  without 
going  to  see  it.  It  is  the  best  that  we  can  do.” 

So  the  porter  of  the  hotel  took  off  the  bag¬ 
gage,  while  Mr.  George  paid  the  coachman  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  of  time.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
then  followed  the  porter  to  their  room.  In  order 
to  reach  it,  they  had  to  ascend  several  stories,  up 
massive  staircases  of  stone,  and  then  to  go  out 
to  the  extreme  end  of  a  long  corridor.  The 
room,  when  they  came  to  it,  proved  to  be  quite 
small,  and  there  was  but  one  bed  in  it.  There 
was,  however,  room  for  another  ;  and  the  waiter, 
who  had  followed  them  up,  said  that  he  would 
cause  another  one  to  be  put  in  without  any  delay. 


68 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Breakfast  again. 


Rollo  goes  to  order  it. 


Chapter  IV. 

A  Ramble. 

“  And  now,  uncle  George,1 ”  said  Rollo,  “  we’ll 
get  ready,  and  then  the  first  thing  that  we  will 
do,  will  be  to  go  down  into  the  dining  room  and 
get  some  breakfast.” 

“  Why,  we  have  had  our  breakfast  already,” 
said  Mr.  George.  “  We  had  it  at  two  o’clock 
this  morning,  on  the  Pontine  Marshes.” 

“  0,  no,”  said  Rollo,  “  that  was  our  supper  for 
last  night.” 

“  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  we  will  have 
some  breakfast.  You  may  go  down  and  order  it 
as  soon  as  you  are  ready.  I  will  come  down  by 
the  time  that  it  is  on  the  table.” 

“  What  shall  I  order  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Whatever  you  please,”  said  Mr.  George. 

Accordingly  Rollo,  as  soon  as  he  was  ready, 
went  down  stairs,  and  looking  about  in  the  en¬ 
trance  hall,  he  saw  a  door  with  the  words  Table 
d’Hote,  in  gilt  letters,  over  it. 

“  Ah,”  said  he  to  himself,  “  this  is  the  place.” 


A.  Ramble, 


69 


What  Rollo  saw  on  the  passage  to  the  breakfast  room. 

He  opened  the  door,  and  found  himself  in  a 
long,  narrow  room,  which  seemed,  however,  more 
like  a  passage  way  than  like  a  room.  There  was 
a  sort  of  rack  on  one  side  of  it  for  hats  and  coats. 
There  were  several  pictures  in  this  room,  with 
prices  marked  upon  them,  as  if  they  were  for  sale, 
and  also  a  number  of  very  pretty  specimens  of 
marble,  and  inlaid  paper  weights,  and  models  of 
columns,  temples,  and  ruins  of  various  kinds,  and 
other  such  curiosities  as  are  kept  every  where  in 
Rome  to  sell  to  visitors.  Rollo  looked  at  all 
these  things  as  he  passed  through  the  room,  con¬ 
sidering,  as  he  examined  them,  whether  his  uncle 
George  would  probably  wish  to  buy  any  of  them. 

One  of  them  was  a  model  of  a  column,  with  a 
spiral  line  of  sculptures  extending  from  the  base 
to  the  summit.  These  sculptures  represented  fig¬ 
ures  of  men  and  horses,  sometimes  in  battle, 
sometimes  crossing  bridges,  and  sometimes  in 
grand  processions  entering  a  town. 

“  This  must  be  a  model  of  some  old  column  in 
Rome,  I  suppose/7  said  Rollo  to  himself.  “  Per¬ 
haps  I  shall  find  it  some  time  or  other,  when  I  am 
rambling  about  the  streets.  But  now  I  must  go 
and  see  about  breakfast.77 

So  saying,  Rollo  passed  on  to  the  end  of  the 
passage  way,  where  there  was  a  door  with  cur¬ 
tains  hanging  before  it.  He  pushed  these  cur- 


70 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  breakfast  room  in  the  Italian  hotels. 


tains  aside,  opened  the  door,  and  went  in.  He 
found  himself  ushered  into  a  dining  room,  with  a 
long  table  extending  up  and  down  the  centre  of 
it.  There  was  a  row  of  massive  columns  on  each 
side  of  the  table,  which  supported  the  vaultings 
of  the  ceiling  above.  In  different  parts  of  this 
table  there  were  small  parties  of  gentlemen  and 
ladies,  engaged  in  taking  late  breakfasts. 

Rollo  walked  down  on  one  side  of  the  table. 
There  was  on  that  side  a  party  consisting  of  a 
lady  and  gentleman  with  two  children,  a  girl  and 
a  boy,  —  all  dressed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give 
them  a  foreign  air.  The  gentleman  was  speak¬ 
ing  to  the  waiter  in  French  when  Rollo  passed 
by  the  party.  The  boy  was  sitting  next  to  one 
of  the  great  pillars.  These  pillars  were  so  near 
the  table  that  each  one  of  them  took  the  place 
of  a  seat. 

Rollo  walked  on  and  took  his  seat  next  beyond 
the  pillar.  Of  course  the  pillar  was  between 
him  and  the  boy. 

In  a  few  minutes  a  waiter  came  to  ask  what 
Rollo  would  have  for  breakfast.  He  asked  in 
French.  Rollo  gave  an  order  for  breakfast  for 
two.  He  said  that  his  uncle  would  be  down  in  a 
few  minutes. 

“Very  well,  sir,”  said  the  waiter. 

As  soon  as  the  waiter  had  gone,  Rollo  looked 


A  Ramble. 


71 


Bo-peep  behind  a  pillar. 


Making  an  acquaintance. 


round  the  other  way,  and  he  saw  that  the  other 
boy  was  peeping  at  him  from  behind  the  pillar. 
The  boy  laughed  when  he  caught  Hollo’s  eye,  and 
Hollo  laughed  too.  The  boy  seemed  to  be  about 
nine  years  old. 

A  moment  afterwards  the  boy  began  to  peep  at 
Hollo  from  behind  the  pillar  on  the  back  side, 
and  then  again  on  the  front  side,  thus  playing  a 
sort  of  bo-peep.  In  this  way,  in  a  few  minutes 
the  two  boys  began  to  feel  quite  acquainted  with 
each  other,  without,  however,  having  spoken  a 
word.  They  would,  perhaps,  have  continued 
this  game  longer,  but  just  at  this  moment  the 
breakfast  for  the  party  came  in,  and  the  boy  set 
himself  at  work  eating  a  warm  roll,  buttered,  and 
drinking  his  coffee. 

“Can  you  speak  French?”  asked  Rollo,  —  of 
course  speaking  French  himself  in  asking  the 
question. 

“  Yes,”  said  the  boy,  “  but  not  very  well.” 

“  Then,”  said  Rollo  to  himself,  “  he  cannot  be 
a  French  boy.  Perhaps  he  is  an  Italian  boy.” 

“  Italian  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  No,”  said  the  boy,  “  not  at  all.  All  I  know 
of  Italian  is  graziaP  * 

“  What  does  that  mean  ?  ”  asked  Hollo, 


*  Pronounced  gratzia , 


72 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rollo  learns  an  Italian  word. 


A  discovery. 


“  It  means,  Thank  you,”  said  the  boy. 

“  He  must  be  a  German  boy,  I  think,”  said 
Rollo  to  himself. 

After  pausing  a  moment,  Rollo  ventured  to  ask 
the  boy  what  his  name  was. 

“  Charles  Beekman,”  said  the  boy.  He  pro¬ 
nounced  the  name  in  so  English  a  fashion,  that 
Rollo  perceived  at  once  that  he  must  speak 
English,  so  he  changed  from  French  to  English 
himself,  and  said, — 

“  So  you  are  an  English  boy.” 

“  No,”  said  Charles,  “  Fm  an  American  boy.” 

Rollo  here  laughed  outright,  to  think  how 
much  trouble  they  had  both  been  taking  to  speak 
to  each  other  in  French,  each  supposing  the  other 
to  be  some  outlandish  foreigner,  when,  after  all, 
they  were  both  Americans,  and  could  talk  per¬ 
fectly  well  together  in  their  own  mother  tongue. 
Such  adventures  as  these,  however,  are  very 
frequently  met  with,  in  travelling  in  foreign 
countries. 

After  finding  that  they  could  both  speak  Eng¬ 
lish,  the  two  boys  talked  with  each  other  like  old 
friends,  for  some  minutes  ;  and  at  length  finding 
that  the  pillar  between  them  was  very  much  in 
the  way,  Charles,  with  his  mother’s  permission, 
moved  his  seat  round  to  Rollo’s  side  of  it,  Rollo 
himself  moving  to  the  next  chair,  to  make  rooiij 


A  Ramble. 


73 


Hollo  proposes  to  Charles  to  take  a  walk. 


for  him.  Mrs.  Beekman  readily  consented  to 
this,  having  first  observed  that  Rollo  appeared  to 
be  a  boy  of  agreeable  and  gentlemanly  manners 
and  demeanor. 

When  Mr.  George  at  length  came  down,  he 
was  at  first  quite  surprised  to  find  that  Rollo  had 
thus  obtained  a  companion  ;  but  before  the  break¬ 
fast  was  completed,  he  had  become  quite  well 
acquainted  with  the  Beekman  family  himself. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  breakfast  Rollo  said  that 
he  was  going  out  to  take  a  walk,  and  he  asked 
Mrs.  Beekman  to  let  Charles  go  with  him.  Mr. 
George  was  going  to  finish  some  letters  in  his 
room,  and  was  then  going  to  the  post  office  and 
to  the  bankers,  where  Rollo  did  not  particularly 
wish  to  go. 

“  It  will  be  better  for  you  and  me  to  go  out 
and  take  a  walk  by  ourselves/7  said  he  to  Charles, 
“  if  your  mother  is  willing.77 

“  Yes,77  said  Mrs.  Beekman,  “I  am  willing. 
Only  you  must  take  care  and  not  get  lost.77 

“  O,  no,77  said  Rollo  ;  “  I711  take  care  of  that. 
Besides,  if  we  should  get  lost,  I  know  exactly 
what  to  do.77 

“  What  would  you  do  ?  77  asked  Mr.  Beekman. 

“  I  would  just  take  a  carriage/7  replied  Rollo, 
“and  order  the  coachman  to  drive  right  to  the 
hotel.77 


74 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


How  to  fiod  your  way  home  if  lost  in  a  city. 

“  Y ery  good,”  said  Mr.  Beekman,  “  that  would 
do  very  well.” 

Accordingly,  after  breakfast  Mr.  George  went 
to  his  room  to  finish  his  letters,  while  Rollo  and 
Charlie  set  out  on  their  walk,  to  see  what  they 
could  see  of  Rome. 

Rollo’s  plan  of  taking  a  carriage,  in  case  of 
getting  lost  in  a  strange  city,  and  ordering  the 
coachman  to  drive  to  the  hotel,  is  a  very  excellent 
one  ;  but  one  thing  is  quite  essential  to  the  success 
of  it,  and  that  is,  that  the  person  lost  should  know 
the  name  of  his  hotel.  Unfortunately,  Rollo  was 
going  out  without  this  requisite.  Neither  he 
himself  nor  Mr.  George  had  observed  the  name 
of  the  hotel  where  the  coachman  whom  they  had 
employed,  on  their  arrival,  had  finally  left  them ; 
and  in  going  out  Rollo  forgot  to  observe  what  it 
was.  He  did  not  even  take  notice  of  the  name 
of  the  street.  He  did  observe,  however,  that 
the  hotel  had  a  small  open  space,  like  a  square, 
before  it,  with  a  fountain  on  one  side.  The 
water  from  the  fountain  flowed  into  a  small  stone 
basin,  with  curious  figures  sculptured  on  the  side 
of  it. 

“  Let  us  go  and  look  at  this  basin,”  said 
Charles,  “  and  see  if  it  would  not  be  a  good 
place  for  us  to  sail  little  boats.” 

The  basin  was  in  a  cool  and  pleasant  place, 


A  Ramble. 


75 


The  fountain  basin. 


Taking  an  observation. 


being  overshadowed  by  the  drooping  branches  of 
a  great  tree.  Rollo,  however,  did  not  wish  to 
stay  by  it  long. 

“  Let  us  go  now  and  see  the  streets  of  Rome/’ 
said  he  ;  “  we  can  come  out  and  look  at  this  basin 
at  any  time.” 

So  the  two  boys  walked  along,  paying  little 
attention  to  the  direction  in  which  they  were 
going. 

“  We  shall  find  some  of  the  great  streets  pretty 
soon,”  said  Rollo,  “  and  then  we  will  take  an  ob¬ 
servation.” 

“  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?”  asked  Charles. 

“  Why,  we  will  take  particular  notice  of  some 
great  building,  or  something  else  that  is  remark¬ 
able  where  we  come  out  into  the  street,  and  by 
that  means  we  shall  be  able  to  find  our  way  back 
to  the  hotel.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Charles,  “  that  will  be  an  excel¬ 
lent  plan.” 

So  the  boys  went  on,  and  presently  they  came 
out  into  what  seemed  to  be  quite  a  busy  street. 
It  was  not  very  wide,  but  it  was  bordered  with 
gay-looking  shops  on  each  side.  These  shops 
were  for  the  sale  of  models,  specimens  of  mar¬ 
bles,  Etruscan  vases,  mosaics,  cameos,  and  other 
such  things  which  are  sold  to  visitors  in  Rome. 
The  number  of  mosaics  and  cameos  was  very 


76 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Mosaics  and  cameos. 


How  cameos  are  made. 


great.  They  were  displayed  in  little  show  cases, 
placed  outside  the  shops,  under  the  windows  and 
before  the  doors,  so  that  people  could  examine 
them  as  they  walked  along. 

“  0,  what  a  quantity  of  mosaics  and  cameos  !  ” 
exclaimed  Rollo. 

“  What  are  mosaics  and  cameos  ?  ”  asked 
Charles. 

As  perhaps  some  of  the  readers  of  this  book 
may  not  know  precisely  the  meaning  of  these 
words,  I  will  here  explain  to  them,  as  Rollo  did 
to  Charles,  how  mosaics  and  cameos  are  made. 

In  the  first  place,  in  respect  to  cameos .  Im¬ 
agine  a  small  flat  piece  of  stone,  of  different 
colors  on  the  two  sides,  say  white  and  black. 
We  will  suppose  that  the  white  extends  half 
through  the  thickness  of  the  stone,  and  that  the 
remaining  part  of  the  thickness  is  black.  Stones 
are  often  found  with  such  a  division  of  colors, 
not  only  white  and  black,  but  of  all  other  hues. 

Now,  the  artist  takes  such  a  stone  as  this,  and 
marks  out  some  design  upon  one  side  of  it,  say 
upon  the  white  side.  Perhaps  the  design  may  be 
the  figure  of  a  man.  Then  he  cuts  away  all  the 
white  of  the  stone  except  the  figure ;  and  the 
result  is,  that  he  has  the  figure  of  the  man,  or 
whatever  else  his  design  may  be,  in  white,  on  a 
black  ground,  and  the  whole  in  one  piece  of  stone, 
all  solid. 


A  Ramble. 


77 


IIow  mosaics  are  made. 


The  workman. 


Besides  stone,  shell  is  often  used  for  cameos  ; 
many  shells  being  pink,  or  of  some  other  such 
color  on  the  inside,  and  white  towards  the  outside. 
In  such  a  case,  the  figures  of  the  design  would  be 
pink,  or  whatever  else  the  color  of  the  stone 
might  be,  on  a  white  ground. 

The  artists  of  Rome  are  celebrated  for  making 
beautiful  cameos,  both  in  shell  and  in  stone.  The 
figures  are  very  nicely  drawn,  and  are  very  beau¬ 
tifully  cut,  and  when  finished  are  set  as  pins, 
bracelets,  and  other  ornaments. 

The  mosaics ,  on  the  other  hand,  are  made  in  a 
very  different  way.  In  these,  the  design  is  repre¬ 
sented  by  different  colored  stones  or  bits  of  glass 
worked  in  together,  with  great  care,  in  an  open¬ 
ing  made  in  the  material  serving  for  the  ground¬ 
work.  Rollo  and  Charlie  went  into  one  of  the 
shops,  and  saw  a  man  making  one  of  these  mo¬ 
saics.  He  was  working  at  a  table.  On  one 
side  was  a  small  painting  on  a  card,  which  was 
his  model.  He  was  copying  this  painting  in  mo¬ 
saic.  The  bits  of  glass  that  he  was  working 
with  were  in  the  form  of  slender  bars,  not  much 
larger  than  a  stiff  bristle.  They  were  of  all 
imaginable  colors  —  the  several  colors  being  each 
kept  by  itself,  in  the  divisions  of  a  box  on  the 
table.  The  man  took  up  these  bars,  one  by  one, 
and  broke  off  small  pieces  of  them,  of  the  colors 


78 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Finishing  off.  Beautiful  appearance  of  a  mosaic. 

that  he  wanted,  with  a  pair  of  pincers,  and  set 
them  into  the  work.  He  put  them  in  perpen¬ 
dicularly,  and  the  lower  ends  went  into  some  soft 
composition,  placed  there  to  receive  and  hold 
them.  The  upper  ends,  of  course,  came  together 
at  the  surface  of  the  work. 

The  man  who  was  making  the  mosaic  told 
Rollo,  that  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  placing  the 
pieces  for  the  whole  design,  he  should  grind  off 
the  surface  so  as  to  make  it  smooth,  and  polish 
it.  It  would  then  have  the  appearance  of  a 
painted  picture. 

You  would  think  that  as  the  colors  of  the 
design  are  thus  represented  by  separate  pieces 
of  glass,  put  in  one  after  the  other,  the  result 
would  be  a  sort  of  mottled  appearance,  or  at  least 
that  the  gradations  of  hue  would  be  sharp  and 
harsh  in  their  effect.  But  it  is  not  so.  The 
pieces  are  so  small,  and  the  different  shades  suc¬ 
ceed  each  other  so  regularly,  that  when  viewed 
from  the  ordinary  distance,  the  junctions  disap¬ 
pear  altogether,  and  the  shades  mingle  and  blend 
together  in  the  softest  and  most  perfect  manner. 

The  mosaic  which  the  workman  was  making 
in  the  shop  where  Rollo  and  Charles  went  in, 
was  a  small  one,  intended  to  form  part  of  a 
bracelet.  There  were,  however,  some  in  the 
same  shop  that  were  quite  large.  They  were 


A  Ramble. 


79 


Mosaics  iu  frames  like  pictures.  The  pictures  in  the  churches. 

framed  like  pictures,  and  were  hanging  up  against 
the  wall.  Indeed,  there  was  nothing  but  the  cir¬ 
cumstance  that  they  were  in  a  mosaic  shop,  to 
denote  that  they  were  not  pictures,  beautifully 
painted  in  oil.  One  was  a  landscape  ;  another 
was  a  portrait  of  a  beautiful  girl  ;  another  was 
a  basket  of  fruit  and  flowers. 

In  some  of  the  churches  of  Rome,  there  are 
mosaics  of  very  large  size,  which  are  exact  and 
beautiful  copies  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
paintings  in  the  world.  Strangers  coming  into 
the  churches  and  looking  at  these  pictures,  never 
imagine  them  to  be  mosaics,  and  when  they  are 
told  that  they  are  so,  they  can  scarcely  believe 
the  story.  But  on  examining  them  very  near,  or 
in  looking  at  them  through  an  opera  glass, — for 
sometimes  you  cannot  get  very  near  them,  —  you 
can  easily  see  the  demarcations  between  the  little 
stones. 

It  is  a  very  curious  circumstance  that  the  most 
ancient  pictures  in  the  churches  of  Rome  and 
Italy  are  mosaics,  and  not  paintings.  Mosaics 
seem  to  have  come  first  in  the  history  of  art,  and 
paintings  followed,  in  imitation  of  them.  In¬ 
deed,  the  arranging  of  different  colored  stones  in 
a  pavement,  or  in  a  floor,  so  as  to  represent  some 
ornamental  design,  would  naturally  be  the  first 
attempt  at  decoration  made  in  the  construction 


80 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Origin  of  painting  in  oil.  Politeness  of  the  workman. 

of  buildings.  Then  would  follow  casing  the 
walls  with  different  colored  marbles,  arranged  in 
pretty  ways,  and  finally  the  representation  of 
men  and  animals  would  be  attempted.  This  we 
find,  from  an  examination  of  ancient  monuments, 
was  the  actual  course  of  things,  and  painting  in 
oil  came  in  at  the  end  as  an  imitation  of  pictures 
in  stone. 

Rollo  and  Charles  were  induced  to  go  into  the 
mosaic  shop  by  the  invitation  of  the  workman, 
whose  table,  as  it  happened,  stood  near  the  door. 
He  saw  the  two  boys  looking  in  somewhat  wist¬ 
fully,  as  they  went  by,  and  he  invited  them  to 
walk  in.  He  saw  at  once  from  their  appearance 
that  they  were  visitors  that  had  just  arrived  in 
town,  and  though  he  did  not  expect  that  they 
would  buy  any  of  his  mosaics  themselves,  he 
thought  that  there  might  be  ladies  in  their  party 
who  would  come  and  buy,  if  he  treated  the  boys 
politely.  It  was  on  that  account  that  he  invited 
them  to  come  in.  And  when  they  had  looked 
about  the  establishment  as  much  as  they  wished, 
and  were  ready  to  go  away,  he  gave  them  each 
one  of  his  cards,  and  asked  them  to  give  the  cards 
to  the  ladies  of  their  party. 

“  But  there  are  no  ladies  of  my  party,”  said 
Rollo. 

“  Who  is  of  your  party  ?  ”  asked  the  workman. 


A  Ramble. 


81 


More  objects  of  interest.  Carelessness.  The  Corso. 

“  Only  a  young  gentleman/7  said  Rollo. 

“  0,  very  well/7  rejoined  the  man,  “  that  will 
do  just  as  well.  He  will  certainly  wish  to  buy 
mosaics,  while  he  is  in  Rome,  for  some  of  the 
young  ladies  of  his  acquaintance.77 

“  I  think  that  is  very  doubtful/7  said  Rollo  ; 
“  but  nevertheless  I  will  give  him  the  card.77 

So  Rollo  and  Charles  bade  the  mosaic  man 
good  by,  and  went  away. 

They  had  been  so  much  interested  in  what 
they  had  seen  in  the  mosaic  shop,  and  their  atten¬ 
tion,  now  that  they  had  left  it,  was  so  much  occu¬ 
pied  with  looking  at  the  display  of  mosaics  and 
cameos  which  they  saw  in  the  little  show  cases 
along  the  street,  that  Rollo  forgot  entirely  his 
resolve  to  take  an  observation,  so  as  not  to  lose 
his  way.  The  boys  walked  on  together  until 
they  came  to  a  long  and  straight,  though  not 
very  wide  street,  which  was  so  full  of  animation 
and  bustle,  and  was  bordered,  moreover,  on  each 
side  by  so  many  gay-looking  shops,  that  Rollo 
said  he  was  satisfied  it  must  be  one  of  the  princi¬ 
pal  streets  of  the  town. 

It  was,  in  fact,  the  principal  street  in  the  town. 
The  street  is  called  the  Corso.  It  runs  in  a 
straight  line  from  the  Porto  del  Popolo,  which  I 
have  already  described,  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
city.  It  is  near  the  inner  end  of  this  street  that 
the  great  region  of  ancient  ruins  begins. 

6 


82 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


In  Home  the  pedestrians  walk  in  the  middle  of  the  street. 

Hollo  and  Charles  began  to  walk  along  the 
Corso,  looking  at  the  shops  as  they  went  on. 
They  were  obliged,  however,  to  walk  in  the 
middle  of  the  street,  for  the  sidewalks,  where 
there  were  any,  were  so  narrow  and  irregular  as 
to  be  of  very  little  service.  Indeed,  almost  all 
the  pedestrians  walked  in  the  middle  of  the 
street.  Now  and  then  a  carriage  came  along,  it 
is  true,  but  the  people  in  that  case  opened  to  the 
right  and  left,  and  let  it  go  by. 

After  going  on  for  some  distance,  Charles  be¬ 
gan  to  look  about  him  somewhat  uneasily. 

“  Kollo/7  said  he,  “  are  you  sure  that  we  can 
find  our  way  home  again  ?  77 

“  0  !  I  forgot  about  the  way  home,77  said  Rollo  ; 
“but  never  mind  ;  I  can  find  it  easily  enough. 
I  can  inquire.  What  is  the  name  of  the  hotel?77 

“  I  don7t  know,77  said  Charles. 

“  Don7t  know  ? 77  repeated  Rollo,  in  a  tone  of 
surprise.  “  Don7t  know  the  name  of  the  hotel 
where  you  are  lodging  ? 77 

“  No,77  said  Charles,  “  we  only  came  last  night, 
and  I  don7t  know  the  name  of  the  hotel  at  all.77 

“  Nor  of  the  street  that  it  is  in  ?  77  asked  Rollo. 

“  No,77  said  Charles. 

“  Then,77  said  Rollo,  in  rather  a  desponding 
tone,  “  I  don7t  know  what  we  shall  do.77 

Just  then  a  carriage  was  seen  coming  along  ; 


A  Ramble. 


83 


Lost,  after  all.  The  cardinal’s  carriage. 

and  Rollo  and  Charles,  who  had  stopped  sud¬ 
denly  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  in  their  surprise 
and  alarm,  were  obliged  to  run  quick  to  get  out 
of  the  way.  The  carriage  was  a  very  elegant 
one  in  red  and  gold,  and  there  were  two  elegantly 
dressed  footmen  standing  behind. 

“  That  must  be  a  cardinals  carriage,”  said 
Rollo,  when  the  carriage  had  gone  by. 

“  How  do  you  know  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“Uncle  George  told  me  about  them,”  said 
Rollo.  “  You  see  Rome  and  all  the  country  about 
here  is  under  the  government  of  the  pope,  and 
the  chief  officers  of  his  government  are  the  car¬ 
dinals  ;  and  uncle  George  told  me  that  they  ride 
about  in  elegant  carriages,  in  red  and  gold,  very 
splendid  and  gay.  We  saw  one  of  them,  too, 
when  we  were  coming  into  town.” 

Charles  watched  the  carriage  a  minute  or  two, 
until  it  had  gone  some  distance  away,  and  then 
turning  to  Rollo  again,  he  said,  — 

“  And  how  about  finding  our  way  home  again, 
Rollo?” 

“  Ah  !  ”  said  Rollo,  “  in  regard  to  that  I  don't 
know.  We  shall  have  to  take  a  carriage  when 
we  want  to  go  home,  so  we  may  as  well  go  on 
and  have  our  walk  out.  We  are  lost  now,  and 
we  can't  be  any  more  lost  go  where  we  will.” 

So  the  boys  walked  on.  Presently  they  came 


84 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  column. 


Kollo’s  mistake. 


to  a  large  square,  with  an  immense  column  stand¬ 
ing  in  the  centre  of  it.  This  column  was  so 
similar  to  the  little  model  which  Rollo  had  seen 
at  the  hotel,  that  he  exclaimed  at  once  that  it  was 
the  same.  It  had  a  spiral  line  of  sculptures 
winding  round  and  round  it,  from  the  base  to  the 
summit.  The  figures,  however,  were  very  much 
corroded  and  worn  away,  as  were  indeed  all  the 
angles  and  edges  of  the  base,  and  of  the  capital 
of  the  column,  by  the  tooth  of  time.  The  col¬ 
umn  had  been  standing  there  for  eighteen  or 
twenty  centuries. 

“  I  saw  a  model  of  that  very  column,”  said 
Rollo,  “  in  a  little  room  at  the  hotel.  It  is  the 
column  of  Trajan.  I?ll  prove  it  to  you.” 

So  Rollo  asked  a  gentleman,  wrho  was  standing 
on  the  sidewalk  with  a  Murray’s  Guide  Book  in 
his  hand,  and  who  Rollo  knew,  by  that  circum¬ 
stance,  was  an  English  or  American  visitor,  if 
that  wTas  not  the  column  of  Trajan. 

“  No,”  said  the  gentleman  ;  “  it  is  the  column 
of  Antonine.” 

Rollo  looked  somewhat  abashed  at  receiving 
this  answer,  which  turned  his  attempt  to  show  off 
his  learning  to  Charles  into  a  ridiculous  failure. 

“  I  thought  it  was  called  the  column  of  Tra¬ 
jan,”  said  he. 

The  gentleman,  who,  as  it  happened,  was  an 


A  Ramble. 


85 


The  boys’  discussion  about  the  uses  of  the  column. 

Englishman,  made  no  reply  to  this  observation, 
but  quietly  took  out  an  opera  glass  from  a  case, 
which  was  strapped  over  his  shoulder,  and  began 
studying  the  sculptures  on  the  column. 

So  Rollo  and  Charles  walked  away. 

“  I  believe  the  name  of  it  is  the  column  of 
Trajan/’  said  Rollo,  “  for  I  saw  the  name  of  it  on 
the  model  at  the  hotel.  That  man  has  just  come, 
and  he  don’t  know.” 

“  Are  you  sure  it  is  the  same  column  ?  ”  sug¬ 
gested  Charles. 

“Yes,”  said  Rollo,  “for  it  was  exactly  of  that 
shape,  and  it  had  the  same  spiral  line  of  im¬ 
ages  going  round  and  round  it,  and  a  statue 
on  the  top.  See,  how  old  and  venerable  it 
looks !  It  was  built  almost  two  thousand  years 
ago.” 

“  What  did  they  build  it  for  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  Why,  I  don’t  know  exactly,”  said  Rollo, 
looking  a  little  puzzled  ;  “  for  ornament,  I  sup¬ 
pose.” 

“  But  I  don’t  see  much  ornament,”  said  Charles, 
“  in  a  big  column  standing  all  by  itself,  and  with 
nothing  for  it  to  keep  up.” 

“  But  it  has  something  to  keep  up,”  rejoined 
Rollo.  “  Don’t  you  see,  there  is  a  statue  on  the 
top  of  it.” 

“  If  that’s  what  it  is  to  keep  up,”  said  Charles, 


86 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


They  find  the  column  of  Trajan. 

“  I  don’t  see  any  sense  in  making  the  column  so 
tall  as  to  hold  up  the  statue  so  high  that  we 
can’t  see  it.” 

“  Nor  I,”  said  Rollo,  “  but  they  often  made  tall 
columns,  like  these,  in  ancient  times.” 

After  rambling  about  a  short  time  longer,  the 
boys  came  to  another  open  space,  where  there 
was  a  second  column  very  similar  in  appearance 
to  the  first. 

“  Ah  !  ”  said  Rollo,  “  perhaps  this  is  the  column 
of  Trajan.” 

Rollo  was  right  this  time.  There  are  several 
large  columns  standing  among  the  ruins  of  Rome, 
and  among  them  are  two  with  spiral  lines  of 
sculpture  around  them,  which  are  extremely  sim¬ 
ilar  to  each  other,  and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  Rollo  was  at  first  deceived  by  the  resem¬ 
blance  between  them. 

These  columns  were  built  in  honor  of  the  vic¬ 
tories  of  great  generals,  and  the  spiral  lines  of 
sculptures  were  representations  of  their  different 
exploits.  The  statue  upon  the  top  of  the  column 
was,  originally,  that  of  the  man  in  whose  honor 
the  column  was  erected.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
Roman  columns,  these  original  statues  have  been 
taken  down,  and  replaced  by  bronze  images  of 
saints,  or  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

Near  the  column  of  Trajan  was  a  large  sunken 


A  Ramble. 


87 


The  ruin.  The  boys  in  perplexity. 

space,  in  the  middle  of  the  square,  with  a  railing 
around  it.  In  the  bottom  of  this  sunken  space 
was  a  pavement,  which  looked  very  old,  and  rising 
from  it  were  rows  of  columns  with  the  tops 
broken  off.  The  old  pavement  was  eight  or  ten 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  street. 

“  This  must  be  some  old  ruin  or  other,”  said 
Kollo  ;  “  a  temple  perhaps.” 

“  Only  I  do  not  see,”  said  Charles,  “  why  they 
built  their  temples  down  so  low.” 

“Nor  do  I,”  said  Rollo. 

“  But,  Rollo,”  said  Charles,  “  I  think  it  is  time 
for  us  to  begin  to  try  to  find  our  way  home.  I 
don’t  see  how  you  are  going  to  find  the  way 
at  all.” 

“  If  I  only  knew  the  name  of  the  hotel,  or  even 
the  name  of  the  street,”  said  Rollo,  “  I  should 
know  at  once  what  to  do.” 


88 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


An  expedient  for  finding  the  way. 


Chapter  Y. 

Getting  Lost. 

“  And  now,”  said  Rollo,  “  the  first  thing  is  to 
find  somebody  that  can  speak  French  or  English, 
for  us  to  inquire  of.” 

“  What  good  will  that  do  ?  ”  asked  Charles, 
“  as  long  as  we  don7t  know  what  to  ask  them 
for  ? 77 

“  True,77  said  Rollo.  “  That7s  a  real  difficulty. 
I  wish  we  just  knew  the  name  of  the  hotel.  At 
any  rate,  we  will  walk  along  until  we  find  a  car¬ 
riage,  and  I  will  be  thinking  what  we  had  bet¬ 
ter  do.” 

The  boys  walked  along  together.  Charles 
kept  silence,  so  as  not  to  interrupt  Rollo  in  his 
thinking. 

“  All  I  know,”  said  Rollo,  after  a  short  pause, 
“  is,  that  the  long,  straight  street  that  we  came 
through,  is  the  Corso.  I  have  heard  of  that 
street  before.  If  we  could  only  find  our  way  to 
the  Corso,  I  believe  that  I  could  follow  it  along, 
and  at  last  find  the  mosaic  shop,  and  so  get  back 
to  our  hotel.77 


Getting  Lost. 


89 


Taking  a  carriage. 


Making  a  bargain. 


“  Very  well/7  said  Charles,  “  let  us  try.” 

“  Or,  we  might  get  into  a  carriage,”  said  Hollo, 
“  and  direct  the  coachman  which  way  to  drive  by 
pointing.” 

“  So  we  could,”  said  Charles.  “  And  I  should 
like  that,  for  I  am  tired  of  walking  so  much.” 

“Then  we  will  get  a  carriage,”  said  Hollo. 
“We  will  take  the  first  one  that  we  see.  You 
shall  get  inside,  and  I  will  mount  upon  the  box 
with  the  coachman,  and  show  him  which  way  to  go.” 

“No,”  said  Charles,  “  we  will  both  get  inside, 
for  we  can  stand  up  there  and  point.” 

“  So  we  can,”  said  Hollo. 

There  are  carriages  to  be  found  almost  every 
where  in  the  streets  of  Rome,  especially  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  most  interesting  ruins.  It 
was  not  long  before  Rollo  and  Charles  came 
in  sight  of  one.  The  coachman  was  looking 
toward  them,  and  was  cracking  his  whip  to  at¬ 
tract  their  attention. 

Rollo  and  Charles  walked  directly  towards  the 
spot,  and  Rollo,  taking  out  his  watch,  and  show¬ 
ing  the  coachman  what  o’clock  it  was,  said,  — 

“  Per  horaP 

This  was  to  notify  the  coachman  that  he  took 
the  carriage  by  the  hour. 

“  Si,  signore ,”  said  the  coachman  ;  and  then 
Rollo  and  Charles  got  in. 


90 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Directing  the  driver.  A  ride  in  Rome. 

The  carriage  was  entirely  open,  —  the  top  be¬ 
ing  turned  back,  —  so  that  it  afforded  an  uninter¬ 
rupted  view  in  every  direction  ;  and  also,  by  stand¬ 
ing  up  and  pointing  forward,  the  boys  could 
easily  indicate  to  the  coachman  which  way  they 
wished  him  to  drive.  Rollo,  however,  in  the  first 
instance,  directed  him  in  words  to  drive  to  the 
Corso. 

“  Si,  signore,”  said  the  coachman  ;  and  so  he 
drove  on. 

The  boys  sat  in  the  carriage,  or  stood  up  to 
look  back  at  the  various  objects  of  interest  that 
attracted  them  as  they  passed.  The  scenes 
through  which  the  driver  took  them  seemed 
very  strange.  Every  thing  in  Rome  was  strange 
to  them,  and  their  course  now  lay  through  a  part 
of  the  city  which  they  had  not  been  in  before. 
Their  attention  was  continually  attracted  first 
upon  this  side  of  the  carriage  and  then  upon 
the  other,  as  they  rode  along  ;  and  they  pointed 
out  to  each  other  the  remarkable  objects  they 
were  passing. 

The  driver  meanwhile  upon  his  seat  drove  on, 
entirely  indifferent  to  it  all.  The  scenes  that 
were  so  new  to  the  boys,  were  perfectly  familiar 
to  him. 

He  soon  entered  a  region  of  dark,  crooked, 


RIDING  AMONG  THE  RUINS. 


Getting  Lost. 


93 


Modern  Rome. 


The  Corso. 


and  winding  alleys,  where  Rollo  said  that  he  and 
Charles  could  never  have  found  their  way,  if  they 
had  undertaken  it  alone.  They  frequently  passed 
portions  of  old  ruins.  In  some  places  these 
ruins  consisted  of  columns  standing  alone,  or  im¬ 
mense  fragments  of  broken  arches  that  had  fallen 
down,  and  now  lay  neglected  upon  the  ground.  In 
other  places,  the  remains  of  ancient  temples  stood 
built  in  with  the  houses  of  the  street,  with  mar¬ 
ket  women  at  their  stalls  below,  forming  a  strange 
and  incongruous  spectacle  of  ancient  magnifi¬ 
cence  and  splendor,  surrounded  and  overwhelmed 
with  modern  poverty  and  degradation.  As  the 
carriage  drove  through  these  places,  Rollo  and 
Charles  stood  up  in  it,  supporting  themselves  by 
pressing  their  knees  against  the  front  seat,  and 
holding  on  to  each  other.  They  stood  up  thus 
partly  to  be  enabled  to  see  better,  and  partly  so 
as  to  be  ready  to  point  out  the  way  as  soon  as 
they  should  enter  the  Corso. 

It  was  not  long  before  they  came  to  the  Corso. 
The  coachman  then  looked  round,  as  if  to  inquire 
of  the  boys  what  he  was  to  do  next. 

“  Go  right  on,”  said  Rollo  ;  and  so  saying,  he 
stood  up  in  the  carriage,  and  pointed  forward. 
The  coachman,  of  course,  did  not  understand  the 
words,  but  the  gesture  was  significant  enough, 
and  so  he  drove  on. 

“  Now  watch,  Charley,  sharp,”  said  Rollo  ; 


94 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  boys  exploring  the  city  in  search  of  their  hotel. 

“  and  when  you  see  the  street  that  you  think  is 
the  one  where  we  came  into  the  Corso,  tell  me.” 

So  the  boys  drove  on  through  the  Corso, 
standing  up  all  the  time  in  the  middle  of  the  car¬ 
riage,  and  looking  about  them  in  a  very  eager 
manner. 

They  went  on  in  this  way  for  some  time,  but 
they  could  not  identify  any  of  the  branch  streets 
as  the  one  by  which  they  had  come  into  the  Corso. 

“  Never  mind,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  we  will  turn  off 
into  any  of  these  streets,  and  perhaps  we  shall 
come  upon  the  hotel.  We  will  take  the  streets 
that  look  most  like  it,  and  at  any  rate,  we  shall 
have  a  good  ride,  and  see  the  city  of  Rome.” 

Rollo  accordingly  pointed  to  a  side  street 
when  he  wished  the  coachman  to  turn.  The 
coachman  said,  “  Si ,  signore ,”  and  immediately 
went  in  that  direction.  As  he  advanced  in  the 
new  street,  the  boys  looked  about  on  all  sides  to 
see  if  the}  could  recognize  any  signs  of  their  ap¬ 
proach  to  their  hotel. 

After  going  on  a  little  way,  and  seeing  nothing 
that  looked  at  all  familiar,  Rollo  made  signs  to 
the  coachman  to  turn  down  another  street,  which 
he  thought  looked  promising.  The  coachman  did 
as  he  was  directed,  wondering  a  little,  however, 
at  the  strange  demeanor  of  the  boys  ;  and  feel¬ 
ing  somewhat  curious  to  know  where  they  want¬ 
ed  to  go.  He,  however,  felt  comparatively  little 


Getting  Lost. 


95 


The  River  Tiber. 


interest  in  the  question,  after  all  ;  for,  as  he  was 
paid  by  the  hour,  it  was  of  no  consequence  to 
him  where  they  directed  him  to  drive. 

Kollo  now  perceived  that  Charles  began  to 
be  somewhat  anxious  in  respect  to  the  situation 
they  were  in,  and  so  he  tried  in  every  way  to 
encourage  him,  and  to  amuse  his  mind. 

“  I’ll  tell  you  what  we  will  do,”  said  Kollo. 
“  This  street  that  we  are  in  now  seems  to  be  a 
good  long  one,  and  we  will  drive  through  the 
whole  length  of  it,  and  you  shall  look  down  all 
the  streets  that  open  into  it  on  the  right  hand, 
and  I  will  on  the  left ;  and  if  we  see  any  thing 
that  looks  like  our  hotel,  we  will  stop.” 

So  they  rode  on,  each  boy  looking  out  on  his 
side,  until  at  length  they  came  to  the  end  of  the 
street,  where  there  was  a  sort  of  opening,  and  a 
river.  There  was  a  bridge  across  the  river,  and 
an  ancient  and  venerable-looking  castle  on  the 
other  side  of  it. 

“  Ah,”  said  Rollo,  “  here  is  the  River  Tiber.” 

“How  do  you  know  that  that  is  the  name  of 
it?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  Because  I  know  it  is  the  Tiber  that  Rome  is 
built  upon,”  replied  Rollo,  —  “  the  Yellow  Tiber, 
as  they  call  it.  Don’t  you  see  how  yellow  it  is  ?  ” 

As  Rollo  said  this,  he  made  signs  for  the  coach¬ 
man  to  turn  out  to  the  side  of  the  street  at  the 


96 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rollo  relates  the  story  of  Romulus  and  Remus. 


entrance  of  the  bridge,  and  to  stop  there.  The 
coachman  did  as  he  was  directed,  and  then  Rollo 
and  Charles,  still  standing  up  in  the  carriage, 
had  a  fine  view  of  the  bridge  and  of  the  river,  and 
also  of  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  beyond.  The 
water  of  the  river  was  quite  turbid,  and  was  of 
a  yellow  color. 

“  That’s  the  river,”  said  Rollo,  “  that  Romulus 
and  Remus  were  floated  down  on,  in  that  little 
ark.” 

“  What  little  ark?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  Why,  you  see,”  replied  Rollo,  “  when  Romu¬ 
lus  and  Remus  were  babies,  the  story  is  that 
somebody  wanted  to  have  them  killed  ;  but  he  did 
not  like  to  kill  them  himself  with  his  own  hand, 
and  therefore  he  put  them  into  a  sort  of  basket, 
made  of  bulrushes,  and  set  them  afloat  on  this 
river,  up  above  here  a  little  way.  So  they  floated 
down  the  stream,  and  came  along  by  here.” 

“  Under  this  bridge  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  Under  where  this  bridge  is  now,”  said  Rollo  ; 
“but  of  course  there  was  no  bridge  here  then. 
There  was  no  town  here  then  —  nothing  but  fields 
and  woods.” 

“  And  what  became  of  the  babies  ?  ”  asked 
Charles. 

“  Why,  they  floated  down  below  here  a  little 
way,”  said  Rollo,  “  to  a  place  where  there  is  a 


Getting  Lost. 


97 


Conclusion  of  the  story. 


Turning  around. 


turn  in  the  river ;  and  there  the  basket  went 
ashore,  and  was  upset,  and  the  children  crawled 
out  on  the  sand,  and  began  to  cry.  Pretty  soon 
a  wolf,  who  was  in  the  thicket  near  by,  heard  the 
crying,  and  came  down  to  see  what  it  was.” 

“  And  did  he  eat  them  up  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  It  was  not  a  he  wolf,”  said  Polio  ;  “  it  was  a 
she  wolf — an  old  mother  wolf.  She  thought 
that  the  children  were  little  wolves,  and  she  came 
to  them,  and  lay  down  by  them,  nursed  them,  and 
took  care  of  them,  just  as  if  she  had  been  a  cat, 
and  they  had  been  her  two  kittens.” 

“  0  Polio,”  said  Charles,  “  what  a  story !  I 
don’t  believe  it.” 

“  Nor  I,”  said  Polio.  “  Indeed,  I  don’t  think  any 
body  nowadays  believes  it  exactly.  But  that 
is  really  the  story.  You  can  read  it  in  the  his¬ 
tory  of  Rome.  These  two  children,  when  they 
grew  up,  laid  the  foundations  of  Rome.  I  don’t 
really  believe  that  the  story  is  true  ;  but  if  it  is 
true,  this  is  the  very  place  where  the  basket,  with 
the  two  babies  in  it,  must  have  drifted  along.” 

Charles  gazed  for  a  few  minutes  in  silence  on 
the  current  of  turbid  water  which  was  shooting 
swiftly  under  the  bridge,  and  then  said  that  it 
was  time  for  them  to  go. 

“  Yes,”  said  Polio  ;  “  and  we  will  turn  round 
and  go  back,  for  it  is  of  no  use  to  go  over  the 
7 


98 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  boys  at  the  scarf  store. 

bridge.  I  am  sure  that  we  did  not  come  over  the 
river  when  we  set  out  from  the  hotel,  and  so  we 
must  keep  on  this  side.” 

Rollo  concluded,  however,  not  to  go  back  the 
same  way  that  he  came  ;  and  so  making  signs  to 
the  coachman  for  this  purpose,  he  turned  into 
another  street,  and  as  the  carriage  drove  along, 
he  and  Charles  looked  out  in  every  direction  for 
their  hotel ;  but  no  signs  of  it  were  to  be  seen. 

“  After  going  on  for  some  distance,  Rollo's  at¬ 
tention  was  attracted  by  a  sign  in  English  over  a 
shop  door  as  follows  :  — 

MANUFACTURE  OF  ROMAN  SCARFS.  ENGLISH  SPOKEN. 

“Ah  !  ”  he  exclaimed,  suddenly,  “  that  is  just 
what  I  wanted  to  find.”  And  he  immediately 
made  a  sign  for  the  coachman  to  stop  at  the  door. 

“  What  is  it  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  It  is  a  place  where  they  make  Roman  scarfs,” 
said  Rollo,  “  and  I  want  to  get  one  for  my  cousin 
Lucy.  She  told  me  to  be  sure,  if  I  came  to 
Rome,  to  get  her  a  Roman  scarf.  You  can't  get 
them  in  any  other  place.” 

As  Rollo  said  this,  he  descended  from  the  car¬ 
riage,  and  Charles  followed  him. 

“  They  speak  English  here,”  said  Rollo,  as  he 
went  into  the  shop,  “  and  so  we  shall  not  have 
any  difficulty.” 


Getting  Lost. 


99 


Shopping  in  Rome. 

These  Roman  scarfs  are  very  pretty  ornaments 
for  the  necks  and  shoulders  of  ladies.  They  are 
made  of  silk,  and  are  of  various  sizes,  some  being- 
large  enough  to  form  a  good  wide  mantle,  and 
others  not  much  wider  than  a  wide  ribbon.  The 
central  part  of  the  scarf  is  usually  of  some  uni¬ 
form  hue,  such  as  black,  blue,  green,  or  brown  ; 
and  the  ends  are  ornamented  with  stripes  of  vari¬ 
ous  colors,  which  pass  across  from  side  to  side. 

Rollo  wished  to  get  a  small  scarf,  and  the 
ground  of  it  was  to  be  green.  This  was  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  instructions  which  Lucy  had 
given  him.  He  found  great  difficulty,  however, 
in  making  the  shopman  understand  what  he  want¬ 
ed.  To  all  that  Rollo  said,  the  shopman  smiled, 
and  said  only,  “  Yes,  sir,  yes,  sir,”  and  took 
down  continually  scarfs  and  aprons  of  different 
kinds,  and  showed  them  to  Rollo,  to  see  if  any 
of  them  were  what  he  wanted. 

At  last,  by  pointing  to  a  large  one  that  had 
a  green  ground,  and  saying,  “  Color  like  that,” 
and  then  to  a  small  one  of  a  different  kind,  and 
saying,  “  Small,  like  that,”  the  shopman  began  to 
understand. 

“Yes,  sir,”  said  the  shopman;  “yes,  sir;  I 
understand.  Must  one  make  —  make.  See !  ” 

So  saying,  the  shopman  opened  a  door  in  the 
back  side  of  the  shop,  and  showed  Rollo  and 


100 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Conversation  with  an  Italian  shopkeeper. 

Charles  the  entrance  to  a  room  in  the  rear, 
where  the  boys  had  heard  before  the  sound  of  a 
continual  thumping,  and  where  now  they  saw 
several  silk  looms,  with  girls  at  work  at  them, 
weaving  scarfs. 

“  Ah,  yes,77  said  Rollo.  “You  mean  that  you 
can  make  me  one.  That  will  be  a  good  plan, 
Charley/7  he  added.  “  Lucy  will  like  it  all  the 
better  if  I  tell  her  it  was  made  on  purpose  for 
her. 

“  When  can  you  have  it  done  ? 77  asked 
Rollo. 

“  Yes,  sir,77  said  the  shopman,  bowing  and 
smiling  ;  “  yes,  sir  ;  yes,  sir.77 

“  When? 77  repeated  Rollo.  “  What  time  ?  77 

“  Ah,  yes,  sir,77  said  the  shopman.  “  The  time. 
All  time,  every  time.  Yesterday.77 

“  Yesterday  ! 77  repeated  Rollo,  puzzled. 

“To-morrow,77  said  the  man,  correcting  him¬ 
self.  He  had  said  yesterday  by  mistake  for  to¬ 
morrow.  “  To-morrow.  To-morrow  he  will  be 
ready  —  the  scarf.77 

“  What  time  to-morrow  shall  I  come  ?  77  asked 
Rollo. 

“  Yes,  sir,77  said  the  shopman,  bowing  again, 
and  smiling  in  a  very  complacent  manner.  “  Yes, 
sir,  to-morrow.77 

“  But  what  time  to-morrow  ? 77  repeated  Rollo, 


Getting  Lost. 


101 


Speaking  English. 


A  commissioner  wanted. 


speaking  very  distinctly,  and  emphasizing  very 
strongly  the  word  time.  “  What  time  ?  77 

“  0,  every  time/7  said  the  man  ;  “  all  time. 
You  shall  have  him  every  time  to-morrow,  be¬ 
cause  you  see  he  will  make  begin  the  work  on 
him  this  day.77 

“Very  well,77  said  Eollo,  “  then  I  will  come 
to-morrow,  about  noon.77 

So  Hollo  and  Charles  bade  the  shopman  good 
by,  and  went  out  of  the  shop. 

“Is  that  what  they  call  speaking  English?77 
asked  Charles. 

“  So  it  seems,77  said  Eollo.  “  Sometimes  they 
speak  a  great  deal  worse  than  that,  and  yet  call 
it  speaking  English.77 

So  Eollo  and  Charles  got  into  the  carriage 
again.  Eollo  took  out  his  wallet,  and  made  a 
memorandum  of  the  name  of  the  shop  where  he 
had  engaged  the  sash,  and  of  the  street  and  num¬ 
ber.  The  coachman  sat  quietly  upon  his  seat, 
waiting  for  Eollo  to  finish  his  writing,  and  expect¬ 
ing  then  to  receive  directions  where  he  was  to  go. 

“If  I  could  only  find  a  commissioner  that 
speaks  French  or  English,77  said  Eollo,  “  I  could 
tell  him  what  we  want,  and  he  could  tell  the  coach¬ 
man,  and  in  that  way  we  should  soon  get  home.77 

“  Can7t  you  find  one  at  some  hotel  ? 77  asked 
Charles. 


102 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rollo  finds  a  commissioner  at  the  Hotel  d’Amerique. 

“  Why,  yes,”  said  Rollo.  “  Why  did  not  I 
think  of  that  ?  We’ll  stop  at  the  very  first  hotel 
we  come  to.  I’ll  let  him  drive  on  till  he  comes 
to  one.  No  ;  I’ll  tell  him  to  go  to  the  Hotel 
d’Amerique.  That  is  the  only  name  of  a  hotel 
that  I  know.” 

So  Rollo  pronounced  the  words  “  Hotel 
d’Amerique”  to  the  coachman, and  the  coachman, 
saying,  “  Si,  signore ,”  drove  on.  In  a  short  time 
he  drew  up  before  the  door  of  the  hotel  where 
Mr.  George  had  stopped  first,  on  arriving  in 
town.  A  waiter  came  to  the  door. 

“Is  there  a  commissioner  here  who  speaks  Eng¬ 
lish  or  French  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Yes,  sir,”  said  a  man  who  was  standing  by 
the  side  of  the  door  when  the  carriage  stopped, 
and  who  now  came  forward.  “  I  speak  English.” 

“  I  want  you  to  help  us  find  our  hotel,”  said 
Rollo.  “We  don’t  know  the  name  of  it.  I  shall 
know  it  when  I  see  it ;  and  so  I  want  you  to  get 
on  the  box  with  the  coachman,  and  direct  him  to 
drive  to  one  hotel  after  another,  till  I  see  which 
is  the  right  one.” 

“Very  well,”  said  the  commissioner,  “I  will 
go.  Do  you  remember  any  thing  about  the  hotel, 
—  how  it  was  situated.” 

“  There  was  a  small,  open  space  before  it,”  said 
Rollo,  “  and  a  fountain  under  a  tree  by  the  side 
of  it.” 


Getting  Lost. 


103 


What  the  commissioner  said. 

“  It  must  have  been  the  Hotel  d7Angleterre/7 
said  the  commissioner. 

“  In  going  in  at  the  front  door,  we  went  down 
one  or  two  steps,  instead  of  up/7  said  Hollo. 

“  Yes/7  said  the  commissioner,  “  it  was  the 
Hotel  d7Angleterre.77  Then  seating  himself  on 
the  box  by  the  side  of  the  coachman,  he  said  to 
the  latter,  addressing  him  in  Italian,  — 

“  Lo  canda  d7Ingleterra/7  which  is  the  Italian 
for  Hotel  d7Angleterre,  or,  as  we  should  express 
it  in  our  language,  “  The  English  Hotel.77 

The  coachman  drove  on,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
came  to  the  hotel. 

“Yes/7  said  Hollo,  as  soon  as  he  came  in  sight 
of  it.  “  Yes,  this  is  the  very  place.77 

If  Rollo  had  had  any  doubts  of  his  being  right, 
they  would  have  been  dispelled  by  the  sight  of 
Mr.  George,  who  was  standing  at  the  hotel  door 
at  the  time  they  arrived. 

“  So  you  come  home  in  a  carriage/7  said  Mr. 
George. 

“  Why,  we  got  lost/7  said  Rollo.  “  I  did  not 
take  notice  of  the  name  of  our  hotel  when  we 
went  out,  and  so  we  could  not  find  our  way 
home  again.77 

“  That7s  of  no  consequence/7  said  Mr.  George. 
((  I  am  glad  you  had  sense  enough  to  take  a 
commissioner.  Whenever  you  get  into  any  dif- 


104 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


How  to  get  out  of  difficulty. 

ficulty  whatever  in  a  European  town,  go  right  to 
a  commissioner,  and  he  will  help  you  out.” 

So  Rollo  paid  the  coachman  and  the  commis¬ 
sioner,  and  then  he  and  Charles  went  into  the 
hotel. 


The  Coliseum. 


105 


An  account  of  the  scenes  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre. 


Chapter  VI. 

The  Coliseum. 

The  grandest  of  all  the  ruins  in  Rome,  and 
perhaps,  indeed,  of  all  the  ruins  in  the  world,  is 
the  Coliseum. 

The  Coliseum  was  built  as  a  place  for  the  ex¬ 
hibition  of  games  and  spectacles.  It  was  of  an 
oval  form,  with  seats  rising  one  above  another  on 
all  sides,  and  a  large  arena  in  the  centre.  There 
was  no  roof.  The  building  was  so  immensely 
large,  that  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible 
to  have  made  a  roof  over  it. 

The  spectacles  which  were  exhibited  in  such 
buildings  as  these  were  usually  combats,  either 
of  men  with  men,  or  of  men  with  wild  beasts. 
These  were  real  combats,  in  which  either  the  men 
or  the  beasts  were  actually  killed.  The  thou¬ 
sands  of  people  that  sat  upon  the  seats  all  around, 
watched  the  conflict,  while  it  was  going  on,  with 
intense  excitement,  and  shouted  with  ferocious 
joy  at  the  end  of  it,  in  honor  of  the  victors. 

The  men  that  fought  in  the  arena  were  goner- 


106 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  Coliseum.  The  travellers  visit  it. 

ally  captives  taken  in  battle,  in  distant  countries, 
and  the  wild  beasts  were  lions,  tigers,  and  bears, 
that  were  sent  home  from  Africa,  or  from  the 
dark  forests  in  the  north  of  Europe. 

The  great  generals  who  went  out  at  the  head 
of  the  Roman  armies  to  conquer  these  distant 
realms  and  annex  them  to  the  empire,  sent  home 
these  captives  and  wild  beasts.  They  sent  them 
for  the  express  purpose  of  amusing  the  Roman 
people  with  them,  by  making  them  fight  in  these 
great  amphitheatres.  There  was  such  an  am¬ 
phitheatre  in  or  near  almost  every  large  town  ; 
but  the  greatest,  or  at  least  the  most  celebrated, 
of  all  these  structures,  was  this  Coliseum  at 
Rome. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  went  to  the  Coliseum  in 
a  carriage.  After  passing  through  almost  the 
whole  length  of  the  Corso,  they  passed  succes¬ 
sively  through  several  crooked  and  narrow  streets, 
and  at  length  emerged  into  the  great  region  of 
the  ruins.  On  every  side  were  tall  columns, 
broken  and  decayed,  and  immense  arches  stand¬ 
ing  meaningless  and  alone,  and  mounds  of  ancient 
masonry,  with  weeds  and  flowers  waving  in  the 
air  on  the  top  of  them.  There  were  no  houses, 
or  scarcely  any,  in  this  part  of  the  city,  but  only 
grassy  slopes  with  old  walls  appearing  here  and 
there  among  them ;  and  in  some  places  enclosed 


) 


The  Coliseum. 


107 


The  sentinel.  Scene  in  the  interior. 

fields  ana  gardens,  with  corn,  and  beans,  and 
garden  vegetables  of  every  kind,  growing  at  the 
base  of  the  majestic  rains. 

The  carriage  stopped  at  one  end  of  the  Coli¬ 
seum,  where  there  was  a  passage  way  leading 
through  stupendous  arches  into  the  interior. 

They  dismissed  the  carriage,  Rollo  having  first 
paid  the  coachman  the  fare.  They  then,  after  gaz¬ 
ing  upward  a  moment  at  the  vast  pile  of  arches 
upon  arches,  towering  above  them,  advanced 
towards  the  openings,  in  order  to  go  in. 

There  was  a  soldier  with  a  musket  in  his 
hands,  bayonet  set,  walking  to  and  fro  at  the  en¬ 
trance.  He,  however,  said  nothing  to  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  ;  and  so,  passing  by  him,  they 
went  in. 

They  passed  in  under  immense  arches  of  the 
most  massive  masonry,  and  between  the  great 
piers  built  to  sustain  the  arches,  until  they  reached 
the  arena.  There  was  a  broad  gravel  walk  pass¬ 
ing  across  the  arena  from  end  to  end,  and  an¬ 
other  leading  around  the  circumference  of  it. 
The  rest  of  the  surface  was  covered  with  grass, 
smooth  and  green. 

The  form  of  the  arena  was  oval,  as  has  already 
been  said,  and  on  every  side  there  ascended  the 
sloping  tiers,  rising  one  above  another  to  a  vast 
height,  on  which  the  seats  for  the  spectators  had 


108 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Robbing  the  ruins  for  building  materials. 


been  placed.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  advanced 
along  the  central  walk,  and  looked  around  them, 
surveying  the  scene,  —  their  minds  filled  with 
emotions  of  wonder  and  awe. 

“  What  a  monstrous  place  it  was !  77  said 
Rollo. 

“  It  was,  indeed/7  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Is  it  here  where  the  men  fought  with  the 
lions  and  the  tigers  ? 77  asked  Rollo,  pointing 
around  him  over  the  arena. 

“  Yes,77  said  Mr.  George. 

“  And  up  there,  all  around  were  the  seats  of 
the  spectators,  I  suppose,77  said  Rollo. 

“  Yes,77  said  Mr.  George,  “  on  those  slopes.77 

You  must  know  that  the  seats,  and  all  the  in¬ 
side  finish  of  the  Coliseum,  were  originally  of 
marble,  and  people  have  stripped  it  all  away,  and 
left  nothing  but  the  naked  masonry  ;  and  even 
that  is  all  now  going  to  ruin. 

“  What  did  they  strip  the  marble  off  for  ? 77 
asked  Rollo. 

“  To  build  their  houses  and  palaces  with,77  re¬ 
plied  Mr.  George.  “  Half  of  the  modern  palaces 
of  Rome  are  built  of  stone  and  marble  plundered 
from  the  ancient  ruins.77 

“  0,  uncle  George  ! 77  exclaimed  Rollo. 

“  Come  out  here  where  we  can  sit  down,77  said 
Mr.  George,  “and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it.77 


LOOKING  DOWN  FROM  THE  COLISEUM. 


The  Coliseum. 


Ill 


What  the  travellers  saw  there. 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  led  the  way,  and  Hollo 
followed  to  one  side  of  the  arena,  where  they 
could  sit  down  on  a  large,  flat  stone,  which  seemed 
to  have  been  an  ancient  step.  They  were  over¬ 
shadowed  where  they  sat  by  piers  and  arches,  and 
by  the  masses  of  weeds  and  shrubbery  that  were 
growing  on  the  mouldering  summits  of  them,  and 
waving  in  the  wind. 

In  the  centre  of  the  arena  was  a  large  cross, 
with  a  sort  of  platform  around  it,  and  steps  to 
go  up.  And  all  around  the  arena,  on  the  sides, 
at  equal  distances,  there  extended  a  range  of  lit¬ 
tle  chapels,  with  crucifixes  and  other  Catholic 
symbols. 

The  arena  of  the  Coliseum  was  kept  in  very 
neat  order.  For  a  wonder,  there  were  no  beg¬ 
gars  to  be  seen,  but  instead  of  them  there  were 
various  parties  of  well-dressed  visitors  walking 
about  the  paths,  or  sitting  on  the  massive  stone 
fragments  which  lay  under  the  ruined  arches. 

High  up  above  these  arches,  the  sloping  plat¬ 
forms,  on  which  the  seats  formerly  were  placed, 
were  to  be  seen  rising  one  above  another,  tier 
after  tier,  to  a  great  height,  with  the  ruins  of  gal¬ 
leries,  corridors,  and  vaulted  passage  ways  pass¬ 
ing  around  among  them.  The  upper  surfaces  of 
all  these  ruins  were  covered  with  grass  and 
shrubbery. 


112 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  party  on  the  upper  stories. 


“  What  has  become  of  all  the  seats,  uncle 
George  ?  77  said  Rollo. 

“  Why,  the  seats,  I  suppose,  were  made  of  mar¬ 
ble/7  replied  Mr.  George,  “  or  some  other  valua¬ 
ble  material,  and  so  all  the  stones  have  been 
taken  away.77 

Presently  Rollo  saw  a  party  of  visitors  coming 
into  view  far  up  among  the  upper  stories  of  the 
ruins. 

“  Look,  uncle  George !  Look ! 77  said  he  ;  “  there 
are  some  people  away  up  there,  as  high  as  the 
third  or  fourth  story.  How  do  you  suppose 
they  got  up  there?  Couldn7t  you  and  I  go  ?  77 

“  I  presume  so,77  said  Mr.  George.  “  I  suppose 
that,  in  the  way  of  climbing,  you  and  I  can  go 
as  high  as  most  people.77 

While  Mr.  George  was  saying  this,  Rollo  was 
adjusting  his  opera  glass  to  his  eyes,  in  order  to 
take  a  nearer  view  of  the  party  among  the 
ruins. 

“  There  are  four  of  them,77  said  he.  “  I  see  a 
gentleman,  and  two  ladies,  and  a  little  girl. 
They  seem  to  be  gathering  something.77 

“  Plants,  perhaps/7  said  Mr.  George,  “  and 
flowers.77 

“  Plants  ! 77  said  Rollo,  contemptuously  ;  “  I 
don7t  believe  that  any  thing  grows  out  of  such 
old  stones  and  mortar  but  weeds.77 


The  Coliseum. 


113 


One  difference  between  “plants”  and  “  weeds.” 

“We  call  such  things  weeds/7  said  Mr.  George, 
“  when  they  grow  in  the  gardens  or  fields,  and 
are  in  the  way  ;  but  when  they  grow  in  wild 
places  where  they  belong,  they  are  plants  and 
flowers/7 

“  The  gentleman  is  gathering  them  from  high 
places  all  around  him/7  said  Hollo,  “  and  is  giv¬ 
ing  them  to  the  ladies,  and  they  are  putting  them 
in  between  the  leaves  of  a  book/7 

“  They  are  going  to  carry  them  away  as  sou¬ 
venirs  of  the  Coliseum,  I  suppose/7  said  Mr. 
George. 

“  The  girl  has  got  a  white  stone  in  her  hand/7 
said  Rollo. 

“Perhaps  it  is  a  piece  of  marble  that  she  has 
picked  up/7  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Now  she  has  thrown  down  her  white  stone/7 
said  Rollo,  “  and  has  begun  to  gather  flowers.77 

“  There  is  an  immense  number  of  plants  that 
grow  in  and  upon  the  Coliseum/7  said  Mr.  George. 
“  A  botanist  once  made  a  complete  collection  of 
them.  Plow  many  species  do  you  think  he 
found  ? 77 

“  Twenty/7  said  Rollo. 

“  Guess  again/7  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Fifteen/7  said  Rollo. 

“  0,  you  must  guess  more,  not  less,77  said  Mr. 
George. 


8 


114 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


How  many  kinds  of  plants  in  the  Coliseum. 


“  Thirty/7  said  Rollo. 

“  More/7  said  Mr.  George. 

“  Forty/7  said  Rollo. 

“  Add  one  cipher  to  it/7  said  Mr.  George, 
“  and  then  you  will  be  pretty  near  right.77 

“  What !  four  hundred  ?  77  exclaimed  Rollo. 

“  Yes/7  said  Mr.  George.  “  A  botanist  made 
a  catalogue  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  plants, 
all  growing  on  the  ruins  of  this  single  building.77 

“  0,  uncle  George ! 77  said  Rollo  ;  “  I  don7t 
think  that  can  possibly  be.  I  mean  to  see.77 

So  saying,  Rollo  laid  the  opera  glass  down 
upon  the  seat  where  he  had  been  sitting,  and  be¬ 
gan  to  examine  the  masses  of  old  ruined  mason¬ 
ry  near  him,  with  a  view  of  seeing  how  many 
different  kinds  of  plants  he  could  find. 

“Must  I  count  every  thing,  uncle  George?77 
said  Rollo. 

“Yes/7  said  Mr.  George,  “every  thing  that 
is  a  plant.  Every  different  kind  of  sprig,  or 
little  weed,  that  you  can  find  —  mosses,  lichens, 
and  all.77 

Rollo  began  to  count.  He  very  soon  got  up 
to  twenty,  and  so  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  guide  book  —  which  was  the  authority  on 
which  Mr.  George  had  stated  the  number  of 
plants  found  upon  the  ruins  —  was  right. 

While  Rollo  was  thus  engaged,  Mr.  George 


The  Coliseum. 


115 


The  inauguration  of  the  Coliseum. 

had  remained  quietly  in  his  seat,  and  had  occu¬ 
pied  himself  with  studying  the  guide  book. 

“  Uncle  George/7  said  Kollo,  when  he  came 
back,  “I  give  it  up.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there 
are  hundreds  of  plants  in  all,  growing  on  these 
ruins.77 

“Yes/7  said  Mr.  George  ;  “whatever  is  stated 
in  this  book  is  very  apt  to  prove  true.77 

“  What  else  did  you  read  about,  uncle  George/7 
said  Kollo,  “  while  I  was  counting  the  plants?  77 

“  I  read/7  said  Mr.  George,  “  that  the  Coliseum 
was  begun  about  A.  D.  72,  by  one  of  the  Koman 
emperors.77 

“  Then  it  is  almost  eighteen  hundred  years 
old/7  said  Rollo. 

“Yes/7  said  Mr.  George;  “and  when  it  was 
first  opened  after  it  was  finished,  they  had  a  sort 
of  inauguration  of  it,  with  great  celebrations, 
that  continued  one  hundred  days.77 

“  That  is  over  three  months/7  said  Rollo. 

“  Yes/7  said  Mr.  George  ;  “it  was  a  very  long 
celebration.  During  this  time  about  five  thou¬ 
sand  wild  beasts  were  killed  in  the  combats  in 
the  arena.77 

“  This  very  arena  right  before  us  ? 77  said 
Rollo. 

“  Yes/7  said  Mr.  George. 

On  hearing  this,  Rollo  looked  upon  the  arena 


116 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  history  of  the  Coliseum. 

with  renewed  interest  and  pleasure.  He  en¬ 
deavored  to  picture  to  himself  the  lions,  and 
tigers,  and  leopards,  and  other  ferocious  wild 
beasts,  growling,  snarling,  and  tumbling  over 
each  other  there,  in  the  desperate  combats  which 
they  waged  among  themselves,  or  with  the  men 
sent  in  to  fight  with  them. 

“  It  continued  to  be  used  for  such  fights,”  add¬ 
ed  Mr.  George,  “  for  four  hundred  years  ;  and 
during  this  time  a  great  many  Christians  were 
sent  in  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  populace. 

“  After  a  while,”  continued  Mr.  George,  “  the 
Roman  empire  became  Christian  ;  and  then  the 
government  put  a  stop  to  all  these  savage 
games.” 

“  And  what  did  they  do  with  the  Coliseum 
then  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  They  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it  for  a 
time,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  but  at  last,  when  wars 
broke  out,  and  Rome  was  besieged,  they  tried  to 
turn  it  into  a  fortress.” 

“I  should  think  it  would  make  an  excellent 
fortress,”  said  Rollo,  “  only  there  are  no  port¬ 
holes  for  the  cannon.” 

“  Ah !  but  they  had  no  cannon  in  those  days,” 
said  Mr.  George.  “  They  had  only  bows  and 
arrows,  spears,  javelins,  and  such  sort  of  weapons, 


The  Coliseum. 


117 


How  it  came  at  last  to  ruins. 

so  that  they  did  not  require  any  port-holes. 
The  men  could  shoot  their  weapons  from  the  top 
of  the  wall.” 

In  further  conversation  on  the  subject  of  the 
Coliseum,  Mr.  George  explained  to  Rollo  how, 
in  process  of  time,  Rome  was  taken  by  the  bar¬ 
barians,  and  a  great  portion  of  the  Coliseum  was 
destroyed  ;  and  then,  afterwards,  when  peace  was 
restored,  how  the  government,  instead  of  repair¬ 
ing  the  building,  pulled  it  to  pieces  still  more, 
in  order  to  get  marble,  and  hewn  stone,  and 
sculptured  columns,  to  build  palaces  with  ;  and 
how,  at  a  later  period,  there  was  a  plan  formed 
for  converting  the  vast  structure  into  a  manufac¬ 
tory  ;  and  how,  in  connection  with  this  plan,  im¬ 
mense  numbers  of  shops  were  fitted  up  in  the  ar¬ 
cades  and  arches  below,  —  and  how  the  plan  final¬ 
ly  failed,  after  having  cost  the  pope  who  undertook 
it  ever  so  many  thousand  Roman  dollars ;  how, 
after  this,  it  remained  for  many  centuries  wholly 
neglected,  and  the  stones,  falling  in  from  above, 
together  with  the  broken  bricks  and  mortar, 
formed  on  the  arena  below,  and  all  around  the 
walls  outside,  immense  heaps  of  rubbish  ;  and 
finally,  how,  about  one  hundred  years  ago,  people 
began  to  take  an  interest  in  the  ruins,  and  to 
wish  to  clear  away  the  rubbish,  and  to  prop  up  and 
preserve  what  remained  of  the  walls  and  arches. 


118 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


What  the  French  do. 


Dimensions. 


“  It  was  the  French  that  cleared  away  the 
rubbish  at  last,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  and  put  the 
ruins  in  order.” 

“  The  French !  ”  repeated  Rollo  ;  “  how  came 
the  French  here  ?  ” 

“  I  don’t  know,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  The 
French  are  every  where.  And  wherever  they 
go,  they  always  take  with  their  armies  a  corps  of 
philosophers,  artists,  and  men  of  science,  who 
look  up  every  thing  that  is  curious,  and  put  it  in 
order,  and  preserve  it  if  they  can.” 

“Then  I  am  glad  they  came  here,”  said 
Rollo. 

Here  Mr.  George  shut  his  book,  and  rose  from 
his  seat,  saying,  as  he  did  so,  — 

“  The  Coliseum  is  so  large  that  it  covers  six 
acres  of  ground.” 

“  Six  acres?  ”  repeated  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  It  is  six  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  long.  That  is  monstrous  for  such 
a  building  ;  but  then  the  steamship  Great  Eastern 
is  about  a  hundred  feet  longer.” 

“  Then  the  Great  Eastern  is  bigger  than  the 
Coliseum.” 

“  She  is  longer,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  but  she  is 
not  so  wide  nor  so  high.” 

“  And  which,  all  things  considered,  is  the 
greatest  work,  do  you  think?  ”  asked  Rollo. 


The  Coliseum.  11J 

Comparison  between  tbe  Coliseum  and  the  Great  Eastern. 

“  The  Coliseum  may  have  cost  the  most  labor,” 
said  Mr.  George,  “  but  the  Great  Eastern  is  far 
above  it,  in  my  opinion,  in  every  element  of  real 
greatness.  The  Coliseum  is  a  most  wonderful 
structure,  no  doubt ;  but  the  building  of  an  iron 
ship  like  the  Great  Eastern,  to  be  propelled  by 
steam  against  all  the  storms  and  tempests  of  the 
ocean,  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  earth,  with 
ten  thousand  tons  of  merchandise  on  board,  or 
ten  thousand  men,  is,  in  my  opinion,  much  the 
greatest  exploit.” 

“  At  any  rate,”  said  Hollo,  “  the  Coliseum 
makes  the  finest  ruin.” 

“  I  am  not  certain  of  that,  even,”  said  Mr. 
George.  “  Suppose  that  the  Great  Eastern  were 
to  be  drawn  up  upon  the  shore  somewhere  near 
London,  and  be  abandoned  there  ;  and  that  then 
the  whole  world  should  relapse  into  barbarism, 
and  remain  so  for  a  thousand  years,  and  after¬ 
wards  there  should  come  a  revival  of  science  and 
civilization,  and  people  should  come  here  to  see 
the  ruins  of  the  Coliseum,  and  go  to  London  to 
see  those  of  the  great  ship,  I  think  they  would 
consider  the  ship  the  greater  wonder  of  the  two.” 

“  I  think  they  would,”  said  Hollo,  “  if  they 
understood  it  all  as  well.” 

“  They  could  not  be  easily  made  to  believe,  I 
suppose,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  that  such  an  im- 


120 


Kollo  in  Rome. 


The  Roman  bricks.  A  curiosity. 

mense  structure,  all  of  iron,  could  have  been 
made,  and  launched,  and  then  navigated  all  over 
the  world  just  by  the  power  of  the  maze  of  iron 
beams  and  wheels,  and  machinery,  which  they 
would  see  in  ruins  in  the  hold.” 

“  Uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “  what  curious 
bricks  the  Romans  used  !  ” 

So  saying,  Rollo  pointed  to  the  bricks  in  a 
mass  of  masonry  near  where  they  were  standing. 
These  bricks,  like  all  those  that  were  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  building,  were  very  flat. 
They  were  a  great  deal  longer  and  a  great  deal 
wider  than  our  bricks,  and  were  yet  not  much 
more  than  half  as  thick.  This  gave  them  a  very 
thin  and  flat  appearance.  Instead  of  being  red, 
too,  they  were  of  a  yellow  color. 

These  bricks  had  not  originally  been  used  for 
outside  works,  but  only  for  filling  in  the  solid 
parts  of  the  walls,  and  for  forming  the  arches. 
But  the  stones  with  which  the  brick  masonry  had 
been  covered  and  concealed  having  been  removed, 
the  bricks  were  of  course  in  many  places  brought 
to  view. 

After  looking  about  for  some  time,  Rollo  found 
a  brick  with  two  letters  stamped  upon  it.  It  was 
evident  that  the  letters  had  been  stamped  upon 
the  clay  in  the  making  of  the  brick,  while  it  was 
yet  soft.  The  letters  were  P.  D. 


The  Coliseum. 


121 


Kollo  proposes  to  take  a  brick  for  a  specimen. 


“  Look,  uncle  George  !  ”  said  Rollo  ;  “  look  at 
those  letters !  What  do  you  suppose  they 
mean  ?  ” 

“  That  is  very  curious,”  said  Mr.  George  ; 
and  so  saying  he  proceeded  to  examine  the  letters 
very  closely. 

“  They  were  evidently  stamped  upon  the  brick,” 
he  said,  “  when  it  was  soft.  Perhaps  they  are 
the  initials  of  the  maker’s  name.” 

“  I  mean  to  look  and  see  if  all  the  bricks  are 
stamped  so,”  said  Rollo. 

So  Rollo  began  to  examine  the  other  bricks 
wherever  he  could  find  any  which  had  a  side  ex¬ 
posed  to  view  ;  but  though  he  found  some  which 
contained  the  letters,  there  were  many  others 
where  no  letters  were  to  be  seen. 

44  Perhaps  the  letters  are  on  the  under  side,” 
said  Rollo.  “  I  mean  to  get  a  stone  and  knock 
up  some  of  the  bricks,  if  I  can,  and  see.” 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  that  won’t  do.” 

“  Yes,  uncle  George,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  I  want  to 
see  very  much.  And  besides,  I  want  to  get  a 
piece  of  a  brick  with  the  letters  on  it,  to  carry 
home  as  a  specimen.” 

“  A  specimen  of  what  ?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

“  A  specimen  of  the  Coliseum,”  said  Rollo. 

11  No,”  said  Mr.  George;  “I  don’t  think  that 
will  do.  They  don’t  want  to  have  the  Coli- 


122 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Searching  for  a  staircase. 


seum  knocked  to  pieces,  and  carried  off  any 
more.” 

“  Who  don’t  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  The  government,”  said  Mr.  George ;  “  the 
pope.” 

“  But  it’s  very  hard,”  said  Rollo,  “  if  the  popes, 
after  plundering  the  Coliseum  themselves  for  hun¬ 
dreds  of  years,  and  carrying  off  all  the  beautiful 
marbles,  and  columns,  and  statues,  to  build  their 
palaces  with,  can’t  let  an  American  boy  like  me 
take  away  a  little  bit  of  a  brick  to  put  into  my 
museum  for  a  specimen.” 

Mr.  George  laughed  and  walked  on.  Rollo, 
who  never  persisted  in  desiring  to  do  any  thing 
which  his  uncle  disapproved  of,  quietly  followed 
him. 

“  Uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “  how  do  you  sup¬ 
pose  we  can  get  up  into  the  upper  part,  among 
the  tiers  of  seats  ?  ” 

“  I  think  there  must  be  a  staircase  somewhere,” 
said  Mr.  George.  “  We  will  ramble  about,  and 
see  if  we  do  not  find  one.” 

So  they  walked  on.  They  went  sometimes 
along  the  margin  of  the  arena,  and  then  at  other 
times  they  turned  in  under  immense  openings  in 
masonry,  and  walked  along  the  vaulted  corridors, 
which  were  built  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls. 
There  were  several  of  these  corridors  side  by 


VIEW  OF  THE  LOWER  CORRIDOR, 


The  Coliseum. 


125 


View  of  a  corridor  in  the  Coliseum. 


side,  each  going  entirely  round  the  arena.  They 
were  surmounted  by  stupendous  arches,  which 
were  built  to  sustain  the  upper  portions  of  the 
building,  which  contained  the  seats  for  the  spec¬ 
tators,  and  the  passages  on  the  upper  floors  lead¬ 
ing  to  them. 

After  rambling  on  through  and  among  the 
corridors  for  some  time,  Mr.  George  and  Rollo, 
on  emerging  again  into  the  arena,  came  to  a 
wooden  gate  at  the  foot  of  a  broad  flight  of 
stone  steps,  which  seemed  to  lead  up  into  the 
higher  stories  of  the  ruin. 

“  Ah !  ”  exclaimed  Rollo,  as  soon  as  he  saw 
this  gateway  and  the  flight  of  steps  beyond  it, 
“this  is  the  gate  that  leads  up  to  the  upper 
tiers.” 

“Yes,”  replied  Mr.  George,  “only  it  is  shut 
and  locked.” 

Rollo  went  to  the  gate  and  took  hold  of  it, 
but  found,  as  Mr.  George  had  said,  that  it  was 
locked. 

“But  here  comes  the  custodian,”  said  Mr. 
George. 

Rollo  looked,  and  saw  a  man  coming  along  the 
side  of  the  arena  with  a  key  in  his  hand.  When 
the  man  came  near,  he  looked  at  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo,  and  also  at  the  door,  and  then  asked  a 
question  in  Italian. 


126 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  locked  gate. 


The  custodian  opens  it. 


“  Si,  signore”  said  Mr.  George. 

So  the  man  advanced  and  unlocked  the  door. 
As  soon  as  he  had  unlocked  it,  and  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  had  passed  through,  he  looked  towards 
them  again,  and  asked  another  question. 

“  No,  signore”  said  Mr.  George. 

Mr.  George  and  Rollo  then  began  to  go  up 
the  stairs,  while  the  man,  having  locked  the 
door  after  them,  went  away. 


The  Gladiator. 


127 


How  Mr.  George  understood  the  questions. 


Chapter  VII. 

The  Gladiator. 

“  How  did  you  know  what  it  was  that  that 
man  asked  you  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  I  knew  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case,” 
replied  Mr.  George.  “  The  first  question  I 
knew  must  be  whether  we  wished  to  go  up  ; 
and  the  second,  whether  we  wished  him  to  go 
with  us.” 

“  What  do  you  suppose  they  keep  the  gate 
locked  for  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  So  as  to  make  us  pay  when  we  come  down,” 
said  Mr.  George. 

“  Do  you  suppose  they  mean  to  make  us  pay  ?  ” 
asked  Rollo. 

“  They  will  not  make  us,  exactly,”  said  Mr. 
George ;  “  but  they  will  expect  something,  no 
doubt.  There  may  be  another  reason,  however, 
why  they  keep  the  gate  locked  ;  and  that  is, 
to  prevent  children  and  stragglers  from  going 
up,  where  they  might  fall  and  break  their  necks 
at  some  of  the  exposed  and  dangerous  places.” 


128 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Dangerous  places.  The  travellers  in  the  corridors. 

“  Do  you  suppose  that  there  are  dangerous 
places  up  here?77  asked  Rollo. 

“Yes,77  said  Mr.  George;  “I  suppose  there 
are  a  great  many  ;  and  I  advise  you  to  be  very 
careful  where  you  go.77 

The  flight  of  stairs  where  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  were  ascending  was  very  broad  ;  and  it 
was  formed  of  the  long,  flat  bricks,  such  as  Rollo 
had  observed  below.  The  bricks  were  placed 
edgewise. 

“  I  suppose  that  these  steps  were  covered  with 
slabs  of  marble,  in  old  times,77  said  Rollo. 

“  Probably,77  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  either  with 
marble,  or  some  other  harder  stone.77 

After  ascending  some  distance,  Rollo,  who 
went  forward,  came  out  upon  the  landing  which 
led  to  a  range  of  corridors  in  the  second  story, 
as  it  were.  There  were  several  of  these  corri¬ 
dors,  running  side  by  side,  all  along  the  building. 
On  one  side,  you  could  pass  through  arches,  and 
come  out  to  the  platforms  where  the  seats  had 
originally  been  arranged,  and  where  you  could 
look  down  upon  the  arena.  The  seats  themselves 
were  all  gone,  and  in  their  places  nothing  was 
left  but  sloping  platforms,  all  gone  to  ruin,  and 
covered  now  with  grass,  and  weeds,  and  tall 
bramble  bushes.  On  the  other  side,  you  could 
go  out  to  the  outer  wall,  and  look  down 


The  Gladiator. 


129 


Rollo’s  excellent  rule  about  dangers. 

through  immense  arched  openings,  to  the  ground 
below. 

“  Take  care,  Rollo,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  don’t 
go  too  near.” 

“  You  may  go  as  near  as  you  think  it  is  safe,” 
said  Kollo,  and  I  will  keep  back  an  inch  from 
where  you  go.” 

“  That’s  right,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  There  is 
great  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  going  into  dan¬ 
gerous  places  with  such  a  sensible  boy  as  you.” 

After  rambling  about  among  the  arches  and 
corridors  of  the  second  story  for  some  time,  Mr. 
George  and  Kollo  mounted  to  a  story  above. 
They  found  ruins  of  staircases  in  great  numbers, 
so  that  there  were  a  great  many  different  places 
where  they  could  go  up.  Mr.  George  allowed 
Kollo  to  go  about  wherever  he  pleased,  knowing 
that  he  would  keep  at  a  safe  distance  from  all 
places  where  there  was  danger  of  falling. 

From  time  to  time,  they  met  other  parties  of 
visitors  rambling  about  the  ruins.  If  these  per¬ 
sons  were  French  or  German,  they  generally 
bowed  to  Kollo  and  Mr.  George  as  they  passed, 
and  greeted  them  with  a  pleasant  smile,  as  if  of 
recognition.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were 
English,  they  passed  directly  by,  looking  straight 
forward,  as  if  they  did  not  sec  them  at  all. 


9 


130 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Mr.  George’s  thoughts.  Iloilo’s.  The  pressing  book. 

Whenever  Rollo  came  to  a  new  staircase,  he 
wished  to  ascend  it,  being  seemingly  desirous  of 
getting  up  as  high  as  he  could.  Mr.  George 
made  no  objection  to  this.  Indeed,  he  allowed 
Rollo  to  choose  the  way,  and  to  go  where  he 
pleased.  He  himself  followed,  walking  slowly, 
in  a  musing  manner,  filled,  apparently,  with  won¬ 
dering  admiration,  and  contemplating  the  stupen¬ 
dous  magnitude  of  the  ruin. 

“Uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “if  I  had  my 
pressing  book  here,  I  would  gather  some  of  these 
plants  and  press  them,  to  carry  home.” 

Mr.  George  did  not  answer.  He  was  stand¬ 
ing  in  an  advanced  position,  where  he  had  an 
uninterrupted  survey  of  the  whole  interior  of  the 
Coliseum  ;  and  he  was  endeavoring  to  picture  to 
his  imagination  the  scene  which  must  have  been 
presented  to  view  when  the  vast  amphitheatre 
was  filled  with  spectators. 

“  If  1  had  expected  to  find  so  many  plants 
growing  on  the  ruins  of  a  building,  I  should  have 
brought  it,”  said  Rollo. 

The  pressing  book  which  Rollo  referred  to, 
was  one  made  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  press¬ 
ing  flowers.  The  leaves  of  it  were  of  blotting 
paper. 

Rollo  was  half  inclined  to  ask  Mr.  George  to 
put  some  specimens  into  the  Guide  Book  ;  but  he 


The  Gladiator. 


131 


Why  Kollo  did  not  press  flowers  in  the  Guide  Book. 

did  not  ask  him,  because  he  knew  that  Mr. 
George  did  not  like  to  have  dried  plants  in  the 
Guide  Book.  Such  specimens  between  the  leaves 
of  a  book  interfere  very  much  with  the  conven¬ 
ience  of  using  it,  by  dropping  out  when  you  open 
the  book,  or  impeding  the  turning  of  the  leaves. 

“  But  I  mean  to  come  again,”  continued  Rollo, 
“  and  bring  my  pressing  book,  and  then  I  can  get 
as  many  specimens  as  I  please.  W ouldn’t  you, 
uncle  George  ? ;; 

“Wouldn’t  you  what?”  said  Mr.  George. 
Mr.  George  had  been  paying  very  little  atten¬ 
tion  to  what  Rollo  had  been  saying. 

“  Come  again  some  day,”  said  Rollo,  “  and 
bring  my  pressing  book,  so  as  to  collect  speci¬ 
mens  of  some  of  these  little  plants.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “that  will  be  an  excel¬ 
lent  plan.  And  I  wish,  while  you  are  doing  it, 
you  would  gather  some  for  me.  And  if  you  wish 
for  some  now,  I  can  let  you  put  them  in  the  Guide 
Book.” 

“No,  I  thank  you,”  said  Rollo.  “I  will  wait 
till  I  come  again.” 

The  height  of  the  outer  walls  of  the  Coliseum 
is  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  which  would  be 
the  height  of  a  house  fifteen  stories  high.  There 
are  not  many  church  steeples  higher  than  that. 

If,  therefore,  you  conceive  of  an  oval-shaped 


182 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


How  to  form  an  idea  of  the  Coliseum. 

field  six  acres  in  extent,  with  a  massive  wall  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  divided  into  four 
immense  stories,  surrounding  it,  and  from  the 
top  of  this  wall  ranges  of  seats,  with  passages 
between  them,  sloping  in  towards  the  centre, 
leaving  about  an  acre  of  open  and  level  space  in 
the  centre  for  the  arena,  the  whole  finished  in  the 
most  magnificent  and  gorgeous  manner,  with  col¬ 
umns,  statues,  sculptured  ornaments,  and  all  the 
seats,  and  walls,  and  staircases,  and  corridors,  and 
vestibules,  and  tribunes,  and  pavilions  for  musi¬ 
cians,  and  seats  for  judges,  designed  and  arranged 
in  the  highest  style  of  architectural  beauty,  and 
encased  and  adorned  with  variegated  marbles  of 
the  most  gorgeous  description,  —  if,  I  say,  you 
can  conceive  of  all  this,  you  will  have  some  faint 
idea  of  what  the  Coliseum  must  have  been  in  the 
days  of  its  glory. 

Mr.  George  and  Hollo  continued  to  ascend  the 
different  staircases  which  they  met  with  in  their 
wanderings,  until  at  length  they  had  reached  a 
great  elevation  ;  and  yet  so  immense  was  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  interior  of  the  edifice,  that  they  were 
not  at  all  too  high  to  see  the  arena  to  advantage. 
Here  Rollo  crept  out  upon  one  of  the  sloping 
platforms,  where  there  had  formerly  been  seats 
for  spectators,  and  calling  to  Mr.  George  to  fol¬ 
low  him,  he  sat  down  upon  a  great  square  stone, 


The  G-ladiatob. 


133 


Imagination.  Gladiatorial  scenes. 

which  seemed  to  have  formed  a  part  of  the  an¬ 
cient  foundation  of  the  seats. 

“  Come,  uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “  let  us  sit 
down  here  a  few  minutes,  and  make  believe  that 
the  games  are  going  on,  and  that  we  are  the 
spectators.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “we  will.  In  that 
way  we  can  get  a  better  idea  of  what  the  Coli¬ 
seum  was.” 

“  I  wish  we  could  bring  it  all  back  again,” 
said  Rollo,  “just  as  it  was  in  old  times,  by  some 
sort  of  magic.” 

“We  must  do  it  by  the  magic  of  imagination,” 
said  Mr.  George. 

“  Only,” continued  Rollo,  “the  things  that  they 
did  down  in  the  arena  were  so  dreadful  that  we 
could  not  bear  to  look  at  them.” 

“  True,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  The  spectacles 
must  have  been  very  dreadful,  indeed.” 

“  Such  as  when  the  lions  and  tigers  came  out 
to  tear  and  devour  the  poor  Christians,”  said 
Rollo. 

“Yes,”  said  Mr.  George;  “but  generally,  I 
suppose,  when  wild  beasts  and  men  were  brought 
out  together  on  the  arena,  it  was  the  beasts  that 
were  killed,  and  not  the  men.  It  was  a  combat, 
and  I  suppose  that  the  men  were  usually  victori¬ 
ous.  It  was  the  spectacle  of  the  fury  of  the 


134 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Who  were  the  gladiators. 


combat,  and  of  the  bravery  which  the  men  dis¬ 
played,  and  of  the  terrible  danger  that  they  were 
often  exposed  to,  that  so  excited  and  pleased  the 
spectators.77 

“I  should  not  have  thought  that  they  could 
have  found  any  men  that  would  have  been  willing 
to  fight  the  beasts,77  said  Rollo. 

Perhaps  the  men  were  not  willing,77  replied 
Mr.  George,  “  but  were  compelled  to  fight  them. 
Indeed,  I  suppose  that  they  were  generally  pris¬ 
oners  of  war  or  criminals.  The  generals  used 
to  bring  home  a  great  many  prisoners  of  war 
from  the  different  countries  that  they  conquered, 
and  these  men  were  trained  in  Rome,  and  in 
other  great  cities,  to  fight  on  the  arena,  either 
with  wild  beasts,  or  with  one  another.  They 
were  called  gladiators .  There  is  a  statue  of  one, 
wounded  and  dying,  somewhere  here  in  Rome.77 

“  I  should  like  to  see  it,77  said  Rollo. 

“We  shall  see  it,  undoubtedly,77  said  Mr. 
George.  “  It  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  stat¬ 
ues  in  the  world.  It  is  called  the  Dying  Gladia¬ 
tor.  I  presume  the  sculptor  of  it  made  it  from 
his  recollections  of  the  posture  and  expression  of 
face  which  were  witnessed  in  the  case  of  real 
gladiators  in  the  arena,  when  they  had  been 
mortally  wounded,  and  were  sinking  down  to 
die.77 


The  Gladiator. 


135 


Conversation  about  the  statue  of  the  Dying  Gladiator. 


“  We  certainly  must  see  it,”  said  Rollo. 

“We  certainly  will/7  rejoined  Mr.  George. 
“  It  is  celebrated  all  over  the  world.  Byron 
wrote  a  very  fine  stanza  describing  it.77 

“  What  was  the  stanza?  77  asked  Rollo. 

“  I  don7t  remember  it  all/7  said  Mr.  George. 
“  It  was  something  about  his  sinking  down  upon 
the  ground,  leaning  upon  his  hand,  and  the  ex¬ 
pression  of  his  face  showed,  though  he  yielded  to 
death,  he  conquered  and  triumphed  over  the  pain. 
Then  there  is  something  about  his  wife  and  chil¬ 
dren,  far  away  in  Dacia,  his  native  land,  where 
he  had  been  captured  in  fighting  to  protect  them, 
and  brought  to  Rome  to  fight  and  die  in  the  Coli¬ 
seum,  to  make  amusement  for  the  Roman  pop¬ 
ulace.77 

“  I  wish  you  could  remember  the  lines  them¬ 
selves/7  said  Rollo. 

“  Perhaps  I  can  find  them  in  the  Guide  Book/7 
said  Mr.  George. 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  opened  the  Guide 
Book,  and  turned  to  the  index. 

“  I  believe/7  said  he,  “  that  the  statue  of  the 
Dying  Gladiator  is  in  the  Capitol.77 

“We  have  not  been  there  yet,  have  we?77 
asked  Rollo. 

“  Yes/7  replied  Mr.  George  ;  “  we  went  there 
the  first  day,  to  get  a  view  from  the  cupola  on 


136 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  museum  on  Capitol  Hill. 

the  summit.  But  there  is  a  museum  of  sculptures 
and  statues  there  which  we  have  not  seen  yet. 
You  see  the  Capitol  Hill  was  in  ancient  times  one 
of  the  most  important  public  places  in  Rome,  and 
when  the  city  was  destroyed,  immense  numbers 
of  statues,  and  inscribed  marbles,  and  beautiful 
sculptured  ornaments  were  buried  up  there  in  the 
rubbish  and  ruins.  When,  finally,  they  were  dug 
out,  new  buildings  were  erected  on  the  spot,  and 
all  the  objects  that  were  found  there  were  ar¬ 
ranged  in  a  museum.  Ah !  here  it  is,”  he  added. 
“  I  have  found  the  lines.” 

So  Mr.  George  read  the  lines  as  follows.  He 
read  them  in  a  slow  and  solemn  manner. 

“  I  see  before  me  the  gladiator  lie; 

He  leans  upon  his  hand ;  his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agony ; 

And  his  drooped  head  sinks  gradually  low ; 

And  through  his  side  the  last  drops,  ebbing  slow 
From  the  red  gash,  fall  heavy,  one  by  one, 

Like  the  first  of  a  thunder  shower  ;  and  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him  —  he  is  gone, 

Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hailed  the  wretch  who 
won. 

“  He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not ;  his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away. 

He  recked  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  nor  prize, 

But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay, 

There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play  ; 

There  was  their  Dacian  mother  —  he,  their  sire, 

Butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday. 

All  this  rushed  with  his  blood.  Shall  he  expire, 

And  unavenged  ?  Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire.” 


The  Gladiator. 


187 


Kollo  collecting  specimens. 

“  The  Goths  did  arise  and  glut  their  ire,”  said 
Mr.  George,  after  he  had  finished  reciting  the 
lines,  “  for  they  were  in  great  measure  the  authors 
of  all  this  ruin  and  destruction.” 

After  sitting  nearly  half  an  hour  in  this  place, 
Mr.  George  rose,  and,  Rollo  following  him,  went 
back  into  the  corridors  again.  They  rambled 
along  the  corridors,  and  mounted  the  staircases 
to  higher  and  higher  points,  until  they  had  as¬ 
cended  as  far  as  they  could  go.  In  these  up¬ 
per  regions  of  the  ruin  Rollo  had  a  good  op¬ 
portunity  to  procure  specimens  of  marble  and  of 
stamped  bricks,  for  in  various  places  there,  he 
found  immense  stores  of  bricks  and  marble,  and 
other  rubbish,  piled  up  in  square  heaps  under 
arches,  or  in  great  recesses  among  the  ruins. 
Rollo  selected  some  of  the  bricks  which  had 
stamps  upon  them,  and  then,  with  a  piece  of  mar¬ 
ble  for  a  hammer,  he  contrived  to  break  away 
all  of  the  brick  except  the  part  which  contained 
the  stamp,  and  thus  procured  specimens  of  a  con¬ 
venient  form  for  carrying.  These  specimens  he 
wrapped  separately  in  pieces  of  newspaper,  and 
put  them  in  his  pockets. 

At  length  Mr.  George  said  it  was  time  for  them 
to  go  home ;  so  they  began  to  descend.  They 
went  down  by  different  passages  and  staircases 
from  those  which  they  had  taken  in  coming  up ; 


138 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Paying  the  gatekeeper.  The  steep  hill. 

but  they  came  out  at  last  at  the  same  gateway. 
The  custodian  was  just  unlocking  the  gate  when 
they  arrived,  in  order  to  admit  another  party. 
Mr.  George  gave  him  a  couple  of  pauls,  and  then 
he  and  Rollo  set  out  to  go  home. 

Iheir  way  led  them  over  the  ancient  site  of 
the  Roman  Forum,  which  presented  to  view  on 
every  side,  as  they  passed,  broken  columns  and 
ruined  arches,  with  the  mouldering  remains  of 
ancient  foundations,  cropping  out  here  and  there 
amid  grassy  slopes  and  mounds. 

“  Uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  as  they  walked 
along,  “  we  are  going  directly  by  the  Capitol 
Hill  as  we  go  home.  Let  us  go  in  now  and  see 
the  Dying  Gladiator.”  * 

“  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  we  will.” 
Accordingly,  when  they  reached  the  base  of 
the  hill,  they  turned  to  go  up.  There  was  a 
broad  and  steep  paved  ascent  leading  up  the  hill, 
somewhat  like  a  road,  only  it  was  too  steep  for  a 
carriage.  Indeed,  there  were  little  steps  at  short 
intervals,  with  a  sloping  pavement  between  them. 
You  see  this  ascent  in  the  engraving.  It  is  in 
the  centre  of  the  view.  There  are  statues  of 
lions  at  the  foot  of  it,  with  water  spouting  from 
their  mouths.  At  the  top  are  larger  statues  of 
horses,  standing  on  lofty  pedestals,  with  men  by 
the  side  of  them,  holding  them  by  the  bridles. 


ASCENT  TO  THE  CAPITOL 


The  Gladiator. 


141 


Colossal  statuary.  Palaces  art* 

These  are  ancient  statues.  They  were  found 
buried  up  in  rubbish  in  an  obscure  quarter  of 
Rome,  about  two  hundred  years  ago.  Beyond, 
you  see  other  groups  of  colossal  statuary  raised 
on  lofty  pedestals  in  various  parts  of  the  great 
square  which  forms  the  summit  of  the  hill. 

On  the  left  you  see  a  church,  standing  in  a  very 
high  position,  with  a  still  steeper  ascent  than  the 
one  I  have  been  describing,  leading  up  to  it.  On 
the  right  is  a  winding  road  for  carriages,  which 
leads  up,  by  a  tolerably  gentle  ascent,  to  the 
great  square. 

The  great  square  is  surrounded  with  vast  pal¬ 
aces,  almost  all  of  which  are  filled  with  paintings, 
statuary,  sculptures,  and  other  treasures  of  an¬ 
cient  and  modern  art.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
turned  to  the  left  after  they  had  ascended  into 
the  square,  and  entered  a  door  over  which  was  an 
inscription  denoting  that  it  led  to  the  museum  of 
sculptures  and  statues.  After  ascending  one  or 
two  staircases,  they  came  to  the  entrance  of  a 
suit  of  apartments  in  which  the  statuary  was 
contained.  There  was  a  public  functionary, 
dressed  somewhat  like  a  soldier,  standing  senti¬ 
nel  at  the  door.  He,  however,  readily  allowed 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  to  pass  in.  There  were 
various  other  parties  of  visitors  going  in  at  the 
same  time. 


142 


Hollo  in  Home. 


'lhe  visit  to  the  museum  of  sculptures  and  statues. 


Mr.  George  and  Kollo  walked  through  one 
long  room  after  another,  with  rows  of  statues, 
and  busts,  and  other  works  of  ancient  sculpture 
on  each  side.  These  marbles  were  almost  all 
more  or  less  chipped  and  broken,  or  otherwise 
greatly  defaced  by  the  hard  usage  to  which  they 
had  been  subjected. 

“  Uncle  George,1 ”  said  Kollo,  as  they  walked 
along,  “  how  came  all  their  ears  and  noses  broken 
off  in  this  way  ?  ” 

“  Why,  all  these  things  were  dug  out  from 
heaps  of  stones  and  rubbish/7  said  Mr.  George, 
“  a  few  hundred  years  ago.  For  nearly  a  thou¬ 
sand  years  before  that  time,  they  were  regarded 
as  of  no  more  value  than  so  many  old  bricks. 

“  Here’s  a  gentleman  coming/’  added  Mr. 
George,  interrupting  himself,  “  who  looks  as  if 
he  could  speak  French.  I  mean  to  ask  him 
where  the  hall  of  the  Dying  Gladiator  is.” 

Accordingly,  when  the  gentleman  came  up, 
Mr.  George,  accosting  him  in  French,  asked 
him  the  question,  and  the  gentleman,  reply¬ 
ing  in  French,  gave  the  information  in  a  very 
polite  manner.  It  was  a  little  farther  on,  he  said. 

“  Is  there  a  special  hall  for  the  Dying  Gladia¬ 
tor  ?  ”  asked  Kollo. 

“  No,”  said  Mr.  George,  “not  for  the  Dying 
Gladiator  alone.  But  many  of  the  halls  in  these 


The  Gladiatok. 


143 


The  hall  of  the  Dying  Gladiator. 

museums  are  named  from  the  most  celebrated 
statue  that  there  is  in  them.  And  I  knew  that 
the  room  where  the  Dying  Gladiator  is  placed 
was  called  by  that  name.” 

So  they  walked  on,  and  presently  they  came 
to  the  room.  There  were  a  great  many  large 
•statues  in  it ;  but  among  them  it  was  very  easy  to 
recognize  at  once  the  one  which  they  had  come 
to  see,  both  on  account  of  the  conspicuous  situa¬ 
tion  in  which  it  was  placed,  and  also  from  its 
form.  Here  is  a  representation  of  it. 


STATUE  OF  THE  GLADIATOR. 


144 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  travellers  looking  at  the  statue  of  the  gladiator. 


Mr.  George  and  Rollo  both  looked  upon  the 
statue  for  a  few  minutes  in  silence. 

“  Yes/7  said  Rollo,  at  length,  “yes,  I  see.  He 
is  dying.  He  is  sinking  gradually  down.77 

“  Do  you  see  the  wound  in  his  side  ?  77  asked 
Mr.  George. 

“  Yes,77  replied  Rollo,  “  and  the  drops  of  blood 
corning  out.77 

“  He  has  dropped  his  sword,77  said  Mr.  George. 
“  It  is  lying  there  near  his  hand.77 

“  What  a  short  sword ! 77  said  Rollo.  “  There 
are  some  other  things  lying  on  the  ground  be¬ 
neath  him,  but  I  do  not  know  what  they  are.77 

“  Nor  I,77  said  Mr.  George.  “  One  of  them 
seems  to  be  a  sort  of  trumpet.  People  think 
from  that  that  this  man  was  a  herald.77 

“  But  I  thought  he  was  a  gladiator,77  said 
Rollo. 

“  They  call  him  a  gladiator,77  replied  Mr. 
George,  “  but  nobody  really  knows  what  the  statue 
was  originally  intended  for.  You  see  it  was  dug 
up  out  of  a  heap  of  rubbish,  just  as  almost  all 
these  statues  were,  and  people  have  to  guess  what 
they  were  intended  for.  This  statue  was  dug  up 
in  a  garden  —  a  garden  belonging  to  an  ancient 
Roman  villa.77 

“  What  does  that  cord  around  his  neck  mean  ? 77 
asked  Rollo. 


The  Gladiator. 


145 


Comments  upon  the  statue. 

“They  think  it  means  that  the  man  was  a 
Gaul.  The  Gauls  used  to  wear  such  cords,  I 
believe.” 

“  I  thought  he  was  a  Dacian,”  said  Rollo. 

“  I  suppose  it  is  uncertain  who  he  was,”  re¬ 
plied  Mr.  George  ;  “  but  look  at  his  face.  See 
the  expression  of  it.  It  is  an  expression  of  min¬ 
gled  suffering  and  rage,  and  yet  he  looks  as  if  he 
were  so  far  gone  as  to  begin  to  be  unconscious  of 
every  thing  around  him.” 

“Yes,”  said  Rollo  ;  “he  does  not  seem  to  no¬ 
tice  us  at  all.” 

“  In  that,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  is  shown  the 
great  skill  of  the  sculptor,  to  express  such  differ¬ 
ent,  and,  as  one  would  think,  almost  conflicting 
emotions  in  the  same  face,  at  the  same  time.” 

After  looking  at  the  statue  some  time  longer, 
Rollo  and  Mr.  George  walked  around  the  room, 
and  looked  at  the  other  pieces  of  sculpture  that 
there  were  there.  They  afterwards  came  back 
again  to  the  gladiator,  in  order  to  take  one  more 
view  of  it  before  they  went  away.  Mr.  George 
advised  Rollo  to  look  at  it  well,  and  impress  the 
image  of  it  strongly  on  his  mind. 

“  It  is  one  of  the  treasures  of  the  world,”  said 
he  ;  “  and  in  the  course  of  your  life,  though  you 
may  never  see  it  here,  in  the  original,  again,  you 
will  meet  with  casts  of  it  and  drawings  of  it 
10 


146 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Mr.  George’s  advice. 


without  number,  and  you  will  find  descriptions  of 
it  aud  allusions  to  it  continually  recurring  in  the 
conversation  that  you  hear  and  the  books  that 
you  read.  Indeed,  the  image  of  the  Dying 
Gladiator  forms  a  part  of  the  mental  furnishing 
of  every  highly-cultivated  intellect  in  the  civil¬ 
ized  world.” 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


147 


Mr.  George’s  plan  for  the  morning. 


Chapter  VIII. 

The  Tarpeian  Rock. 

One  morning  while  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
were  taking  breakfast  together  in  the  dining 
room  of  the  hotel,  Mr.  George  remarked  that  he 
had  received  some  news  that  morning. 

“  Is  it  good  news,  or  bad  news  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  It  is  good  for  me,”  replied  Mr.  George,  “  but 
I  rather  think  you  will  consider  it  bad  for  you.” 

“  Tell  me  what  it  is,”  said  Rollo,  “  and  then  I 
will  tell  you  how  I  consider  it.” 

So  Mr.  George  informed  Rollo  that  the  news 
which  he  had  received  was,  that  there  had  been 
an  arrival  from  America,  and  that  the  last  night’s 
post  had  brought  the  papers  to  town. 

“  And  so,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  I  am  going  to 
spend  the  morning  at  Piale’s  *  library,  reading 
the  papers,  and  you  will  be  left  to  entertain 
yourself.” 

“  0,  that’s  no  matter,”  said  Rollo.  “  I  can  get 

*  Pronounced  Pe-ah-lyys . 


148 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Roilo  proposes  to  visit  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

Charles  Beekman  to  go  with  me.  We  can  take 
care  of  ourselves  very  well.” 

“  What  will  you  do  ?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

“  I  want  to  go  and  see  the  Tarpeian  Rock,” 
said  Rollo.  “  I  read  about  that  rock,  and  about 
Tarpeia,  in  a  history  in  America,  and  I  want  to 
see  how  the  rock  looks.” 

“Do  you  know  where  it  is?”  asked  Mr. 
George. 

“  No,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  but  I  can  find  out.” 

“  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  then  I  leave 
you  to  take  care  of  yourself.  You  can  get 
Charles  to  go,  if  his  mother  will  trust  him  with 
you.” 

“  She  will,  I  am  sure,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Why,  you  got  lost  when  you  took  him  the 
other  day,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  and  you  had  ever 
so  much  difficulty  in  finding  your  way  home 
again.” 

“  0,  no,  uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “  we  did  not 
have  any  difficulty  at  all.  We  only  had  a  little 
fun.” 

Soon  after  breakfast  Mr.  George  bade  Rollo 
good  by,  and  went  off  to  the  bookstore  and  libra¬ 
ry,  where  he  was  to  see  and  read  the  Ameri¬ 
can  papers.  As  soon  as  his  uncle  had  gone, 
Rollo  went  up  to  Mrs.  Beekman’s  room,  and 
knocked  at  the  door.  A  well-dressed  man  ser- 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


149 


What  Mrs.  Beekman  thought  about  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 


vant  came  to  the  door.  It  was  Mr.  Beekman’s 
courier. 

“Walk  in,  Mr.  Rollo,”  said  the  courier; 
“Mrs.  Beekman  and  Charles  will  come  in  a 
minute.” 

So  Rollo  went  in.  The  room  was  a  small  par¬ 
lor,  very  beautifully  furnished.  In  a  few  minutes 
Mrs.  Beekman  and  Charles  came  in,  followed  by 
Charles’s  sister,  a  lively  young  lady  about  twelve 
years  of  age.  Her  name  was  Almira,  though 
they  usually  called  her  Allie. 

Rollo  informed  Mrs.  Beekman,  when  she  came 
into  the  room,  that  he  had  come  to  ask  her  to 
allow  Charles  to  go  and  make  an  excursion  with 
him.  He  was  going,  he  said,  to  see  the  Tarpeian 
Rock. 

“  0,  I  would  not  go  to  see  the  Tarpeian  Rock,” 
said  Mrs.  Beekman.  “  Some  ladies  of  my  ac¬ 
quaintance  went  to  see  it  the  other  day,  and  they 
said  it  was  nothing  at  all.” 

“Ah,  yes,  mother!”  said  Charles,  in  an  en¬ 
treating  tone  of  voice,  “  let  me  go  with  Rollo.” 

“  Why,  there  is  nothing  at  all  to  see,”  said 
Mrs.  Beekman.  “  It  is  only  a  small,  steep  face 
of  a  rock  in  a  bank.  On  the  Hudson  River 
Railroad  you  see  rocks  and  precipices  forty 
times  as  picturesque,  all  along  the  way.” 

Still  Rollo  and  Charles  were  very  desirous 


150 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  children  make  up  a  party  for  the  excursion . 


to  go.  The  truth  was,  it  was  not  so  much  what 
they  expected  to  see  at  the  end  of  the  excursion, 
which  made  it  so  alluring  to  them,  as  the  interest 
and  excitement  of  the  various  adventures  which 
they  thought  they  would  meet  with  on  the  way. 
Finally  Mrs.  Beekman  said  that  she  had  not  the 
least  objection  in  the  world  to  their  going  to  see 
the  rock,  only  she  was  herself  perfectly  convinced 
that  they  would  not  find  any  thing  worth  seeing. 

“  I  wish  Allie  could  go  too/7  said  Rollo. 

“  Yes,  mother/7  said  Allie,  clapping  her  hands. 

“  Why,  do  you  care  about  seeing  the  Tarpeian 
Rock  ?  77  asked  her  mother. 

“  Yes,  mother/7  said  Allie,  “I  wish  to  see  it 
very  much,  though  I  don7t  know  what  it  is. 
What  is  it,  Rollo  ? 77 

“  HI  tell  you  all  about  it  on  the  way/7  said 
Rollo,  “  if  you  can  only  go  with  us.77 

“  But  she  cannot  walk  there/7  said  Mrs.  Beek¬ 
man.  “  No  lady  ever  walks  in  Rome.77 

“  I  will  take  a  carriage/7  said  Rollo. 

“  I  am  afraid  you  don7t  know  how  to  manage 
about  a  carriage/7  said  Mrs.  Beekman. 

“  Yes,  mother/7  replied  Charles,  “  he  knows 
how  to  manage  about  a  carriage  perfectly  well. 
I  tried  him  the  other  day.77 

Mrs.  Beekman  finally  gave  a  tardy  and  reluc¬ 
tant  consent  to  the  children’s  proposal.  She  did 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


151 


Bad  management.  Engaging  a  carriage. 

not  manage  the  case  very  wisely.  She  should 
have  considered  in  the  first  instance  what  her 
decision  ought  to  be,  and  then  she  should  have 
adhered  to  it.  If  she  was  going  to  consent  at 
all,  she  should  have  consented  cordially,  and  at 
once.  For  parents  first  to  refuse  their  children’s 
request,  and  then  allow  themselves  to  be  induced 
to  change  their  determination  by  the  entreaties 
and  persuasions  of  the  children  themselves,  is  bad 
management. 

Allie  went  into  her  mother’s  bed  room  to  get 
ready,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned,  her  counte¬ 
nance  beaming  with  animation  and  pleasure. 

They  all  went  down  to  the  door  of  the  hotel. 
There  were  several  carriages  standing  in  the 
square.  The  coachmen,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the 
party  at  the  door,  all  began  to  hold  up  their 
whips,  and  to  call  to  Hollo.  Some  of  them  be¬ 
gan  to  move  their  horses  towards  him. 

Hollo  glanced  his  eyes  rapidly  at  the  several 
coaches,  and  selecting  the  one  which  he  thought 
looked  the  best,  he  beckoned  to  the  coachman  of 
it.  The  coachman  immediately  drew  up  to  the 
door.  He  then  jumped  down  from  the  box,  and 
opened  the  carriage  door. 

Before  getting  in,  however,  Hollo  wished  to 
make  his  bargain  ;  so  he  said  to  the  coachman,  — 

“  To  the  Capitol.  Two  pauls.” 


152 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


iiow  Rollo  made  a  bargain  with  the  Italian  coachman. 


He  spoke  these  words  in  the  Italian  language. 
He  had  learned  the  Italian  for  “  two  pauls  ”  long 
before,  and  he  had  looked  out  the  Italian  name 
for  the  Capitol  in  his  Guide  Book  that  morning, 
so  as  to  be  all  ready.  The  Italian  name  which 
he  found  was  Campidoglio. 

The  coachman  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then 
said,  holding  up  three  fingers  at  the  same 
time,  — 

“  Three  pauls.” 

Of  course  he  spoke  in  Italian. 

Rollo,  instead  of  answering  him,  immediately 
began  to  turn  away  and  look  out  towards  the 
other  carriages. 

“Si,  signore ,  si,”  said  the  coachman.  “Two 
pauls  let  it  be.” 

So  he  held  open  the  carriage  door  wider  than 
ever,  and  Rollo  assisted  Allie  to  get  in.  He  and 
Charles  followed,  and  then  the  coachman  drove 
away. 

“You  agreed  to  give  him  too  much,”  said 
Charles,  as  soon  as  they  were  seated.  “  A  paul 
and  a  half  is  the  regular  fare.” 

“  I  know  it,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  but  I  always  offer  a 
little  more  than  the  regular  fare,  especially  when 
I  have  a  lady  with  me,  for  then  they  have  not  a 
word  to  say.” 

“  But  this  man  had  a  word  to  say,”  replied 


The  Taepeian  Rock. 


153 


Leaving  the  carriage. 

Charles.  “He  wanted  you  to  give  him  three 
pauls.” 

“  Yes,”  said  Hollo,  “  sometimes  they  try  a  little 
to  make  a  dispute  ;  but  they  have  no  chance  at  all, 
and  they  give  right  up.” 

Hollo  had  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  to 
the  Capitol,  because  he  had  found,  by  studying 
the  map  and  the  Guide  Book,  that  the  entrance 
to  the  enclosure  where  the  Tarpeian  Rock  was  to 
be  seen  was  very  near  there.  He  had  examined 
the  map  attentively,  and  so  he  knew  exactly 
which  way  he  must  go  after  being  set  down  at 
the  foot  of  the  Capitol  stairs. 

Accordingly,  when  the  carriage  stopped,  Hollo 
got  out  first  himself,  and  then  helped  Allie  and 
Charles  out.  He  paid  the  coachman  the  price 
agreed  upon,  and  a  couple  of  coppers  over  for 
buono  mano. 

“  Now,”  said  he  to  Charles  and  Allie,  “  follow 
me.” 

Hollo  went  on  a  little  way  along  a  winding 
street,  and  then  turning  to  the  right,  began  to  go 
up  a  steep  ascent,  formed  of  very  broad  steps, 
which  seemed  to  lead  to  a  higher  street.  As 
soon  as  the  party  began  to  go  up  these  steps,  they 
saw  several  children  running  down  from  above  to 
meet  them.  When  these  children  reached  the 
place  where  Hollo  was,  they  began  saying  some- 


154 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Choosing  a  guide  from  among  the  children. 

thing  very  eagerly  in  Italian,  scrambling  up  the 
steps  again  at  the  same  time,  so  as  to  keep  up 
with  Rollo  and  his  party. 

“  What  do  these  children  want  ?  ”  asked  Allie. 

“  I  don’t  know,”  said  Rollo.  “  I  have  not  the 
least  idea.” 

“  I  suppose  they  are  begging,”  said  Charles. 

“  No,”  said  Allie.  “  If  they  were  begging, 
they  would  hold  out  their  hands.” 

At  the  top  of  the  stairs  Rollo  and  his  party 
were  met  by  half  a  dozen  more  children,  so  that 
there  were  now  eight  or  ten  in  all.  They  ran  on 
before  and  by  the  side  of  Rollo  and  his  party, 
all  looking  very  eager  and  animated,  talking  in¬ 
cessantly,  and  beckoning  and  pointing  forward. 

“Ah!”  said  Rollo,  “I  know.  They  want  to 
show  us  the  way  to  the  Tarpeian  Rock.” 

“  But  you  said  you  knew  the  way,”  said  Allie. 

“  I  said  I  could  find  it,”  replied  Rollo,  “  and  so 
I  can  ;  but  I  am  willing  to  pay  one  of  these  chil¬ 
dren  for  showing  me,  but  not  all.  Stop  a  min¬ 
ute,  till  I  choose.  Or,  rather,  you  may  choose, 
Allie,”  he  added. 

The  party  now  stopped,  while  Allie  surveyed 
the  ragged  and  wretched-looking  group  before 
her. 

“There  is  not  a  pretty  child  among  them,” 
said  Allie. 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


155 


The  barefooted  girl. 


What  the  other  children  did. 


“  You  should  not  look  for  the  best  looking  one, 
Allie/7  said  Charles.  “You  should  choose  the 
worst  looking  one.  She  is  likely  to  need  it 
most.  Pretty  looking  girls  get  along  well 
enough.77 

“  Then  I  choose  that  poor  barefooted  girl,  that 
looks  so  pale/7  said  Allie. 

“Yes/7  said  Hollo ;  “she  looks  as  if  she  had 
had  a  fever.77 

So  Hollo  pointed  to  the  girl,  and  showed  her  a 
copper,  which  he  took  for  the  purpose  from  his 
pocket.  At  the  same  time  he  made  a  waving 
motion  with  his  hand  to  the  rest,  to  denote  that 
he  did  not  wish  for  their  services,  and  that  they 
might  go  away. 

The  barefooted  girl  seemed  greatly  pleased. 
Her  pale  and  emaciated  face  was  lighted  up 
with  a  smile  of  pleasure.  She  ran  along 
forward,  beckoning  to  Hollo  and  his  party  to 
follow. 

The  rest  of  the  children,  though  they  under¬ 
stood  perfectly  the  signal  of  dismission  that  Hol¬ 
lo  had  made  to  them,  were  determined  not  to  be 
sent  off  in  that  way  ;  so  they  went  on  gesticulat¬ 
ing  and  clamoring  as  much  as  ever. 

Rollo  paid  no  attention  to  them,  but  walked  on 
with  Charles  and  Allie  at  his  side.  Presently 
their  guide,  and  all  the  other  children  with  her, 


156 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Paying  the  poor  guides. 


stopped  at  a  sort  of  gateway  in  a  wall.  By  the 
side  of  the  gateway  there  was  an  iron  ring  hang¬ 
ing  by  a  chain.  Two  or  three  of  the  children 
seized  this  ring  together  and  pulled  it,  by  which 
means  a  bell  was  rung  inside.  The  other  chil¬ 
dren  crowded  together  on  each  side  of  this  gate, 
leaving  room,  however,  for  Rollo  and  his  party 
to  go  through,  and  all  held  out  their  hands  for 
money. 

“  I  am  only  going  to  pay  the  one  that  I  en¬ 
gaged,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  but,  poor  thing,  I  mean  to 
give  her  two  coppers,  instead  of  one,  she  looks  so 
sick  and  miserable.” 

“So  I  would,”  said  Allie.  “And  here,  she 
added,  putting  her  hand  into  her  pocket  and  tak¬ 
ing  out  a  Roman  copper  coin,  “  I  have  got  a  pen¬ 
ny  here  ;  you  may  give  her  that,  too.” 

“That  is  not  a  penny,”  said  Charles.  “That 
is  a  baioccho .” 

“ Never  mind,”  said  Allie  ;  “/call  it  a  penny. 
I  can’t  remember  the  other  name.  Besides,  it  is 
all  the  same  thing.” 

Rollo  gave  the  three  pieces  of  money  to  the 
poor  girl,  and  the  rest  of  the  children,  when  they 
saw  how  generous  he  was,  became  more  clamor¬ 
ous  than  ever.  But  Rollo  paid  no  heed  to  them. 
Indeed,  a  moment  after  he  had  paid  his  little 
guide  her  money,  the  gate  opened,  and  the  party 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


157 


The  children  in  the  garden.  The  Rock. 

went  in.  The  poor  children  were  all  left  outside, 
and  shut  out. 

It  was  a  small  girl,  about  thirteen  years  old, 
that  opened  the  gate. 

Kollo  and  his  party  found  themselves  ushered 
into  a  sort  of  garden.  The  girl  led  the  way 
along  a  narrow  path  between  beds  of  beans,  let¬ 
tuce,  and  other  garden  vegetables.  Besides  these 
vegetables,  there  were  groups  of  shrubbery  here 
and  there,  among  which  roses  and  other  flowers 
were  blooming.  This  garden  seemed  to  be  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  for  it  was  bordered  on  three 
sides  by  buildings,  and  on  the  fourth  by  a  low 
wall,  which  appeared  to  be  built  on  the  brow  of 
a  hill,  for  the  roofs  and  chimneys  of  other  houses, 
situated  on  a  lower  level,  could  be  seen  over  it 
below. 

The  girl  led  the  way  to  a  place  by  this  wall, 
where,  by  looking  over,  there  could  be  seen,  at  a 
distance  along  the  hill,  a  small  place  where  the 
rock  which  formed  the  face  of  it  was  precipitous. 
The  precipice  seemed  to  be  about  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  high. 

“  Is  that  the  Tarpeian  Rock  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

The  girl  who  conducted  them  did  not  reply, 
not  knowing  any  language  but  the  Italian. 

“  IVe  seen  a  great  deal  prettier  rocks  in  Amer¬ 
ica, n  said  Allie. 


158 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


History  of  Tarpeia. 


“  Then  are  you  sorry  you  came  ?  ”  asked 
Rollo. 

“  0,  no ! ”  said  Allie  ;  “  I  am  very  glad  I 
came.  But  what  is  it  that  makes  this  rock  so 
famous  ?  ” 

“  Why,  it  is  the  place  where,  in  old  times,  a 
very  remarkable  thing  happened,”  replied  Rollo. 
“  I  read  the  story  in  the  history  of  Rome,  when 
I  was  studying  history  in  America.  There  was 
a  girl  named  Tarpeia.  She  lived  somewhere 
near  the  top  of  this  rock,  and  the  wall  of  the  city 
came  somewhere  along  here,  and  there  was  a 
gate.  The  Sabines  made  war  against  the  Ro¬ 
mans,  and  came  to  attack  the  city,  but  they  could 
not  get  in  on  account  of  the  walls.  One  day 
Tarpeia  was  on  the  wall  looking  down,  and  she 
saw  some  of  the  Sabine  soldiers  walking  about 
below.” 

“  Why  did  not  they  shoot  her  ?  ”  asked  Charles. 

“  0,  they  had  no  motive  for  shooting  her,”  re¬ 
plied  Rollo.  “  She  was  a  nice,  pretty  girl,  I  sup¬ 
pose,  and  they  liked  to  look  at  her,  and  to  talk 
with  her.  Besides,  they  had  a  cunning  plan  in 
view.  They  asked  her  whether  they  could  not 
induce  her  to  open  the  gates  and  let  them  into 
the  city.  She  said  she  would  do  it  if  they  would 
give  her  what  they  wore  on  their  arms.  She 
meant  their  bracelets.  The  soldiers  in  those  days 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


159 


End  of  the  story.  What  the  children  thought. 

used  to  adorn  themselves  with  rings,  and  bracelets, 
and  other  such  things.  But  then,  besides  these 
bracelets  they  wore  their  shields  and  bucklers 
on  their  arms.  These  were  very  heavy  things, 
made  of  iron,  and  covered  with  hides.  So  they 
agreed  that  they  would  give  her  what  they  wore 
on  their  arms,  secretly  meaning  that  they  would 
throw  their  bucklers  upon  her  ;  but  she  thought 
they  meant  that  they  would  give  her  their 
bracelets. 

“  So  that  night,”  continued  Rollo,  “  the  soldiers 
came,  bringing  a  great  many  other  soldiers  with 
them,  and  Tarpeia  opened  the  gate  and  let  them 
in.  The  whole  troop  rushed  by  her  into  the 
town,  as  fast  as  they  could  go,  and  as  they  passed 
they  all  threw  their  bucklers  upon  poor  Tarpeia, 
till  she  was  crushed  to  death,  and  buried  up  by 
them.  It  was  pretty  near  this  rock  where  this 
happened,  and  so,  forever  after,  they  called  it  the 
Tarpeian  Rock,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  so 
many  people  come  to  see  it.” 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  after  Rollo  had 
finished  his  story,  during  which  Allie  looked 
quite  concerned.  At  length  she  said,  in  a  very 
earnest  tone,  — 

“  I  think  it  was  a  shame !  ” 

“I  think  they  served  her  just  right,”  said 
Charles. 


1G0 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Going  home.  Why  Rollo  paid  the  keeper  double. 

“  0,  Charles  !  ”  replied  Alice,  “  how  can  you 
say  so  ?  ” 

The  girl  who  had  conducted  the  party  through 
the  garden  now  began  to  lead  the  way  back 
again,  and  they  all  followed  her.  As  she  walked 
along,  the  girl  began  to  gather  flowers  from  the 
beds  and  borders,  and  finally  made  quite  a  pretty 
bouquet.  When  she  got  to  the  gate,  and  was 
ready  to  open  it,  she  presented  this  bouquet  in  a 
very  polite  and  graceful  manner  to  Allie.  Rollo 
took  some  money  from  his  pocket,  and  put  it  into 
her  hand  ;  and  then  she  opened  the  gate,  and  let 
them  all  out. 

“  How  much  did  you  pay  her,  Rollo  ?  ”  asked 
Charles. 

“  I  paid  her  double,”  said  Rollo,  “  because  she 
was  so  polite  as  to  give  Allie  such  a  pretty 
bouquet.” 

Allie  was  now  more  pleased  with  her  bouquet 
than  before.  It  pleased  her  extremely  to  find 
that  Rollo  took  so  much  interest  in  her  receiving 
a  bouquet  as  to  pay  something  specially  for  it. 

So  they  all  went  down  the  steps  which  led  to 
the  foot  of  the  Capitol  Hill. 

“  Shall  we  walk  home?”  asked  Rollo,  “or 
shall  I  find  a  carriage,  so  that  we  can  ride  ?  ” 

“  Let  us  walk,”  replied  Allie,  “  and  then  we 
shall  be  longer  on  the  way.” 


A  shower  coming  up. 


Hollo  proposes  to  visit  the  Pantheon. 


Just  then  Rollo,  looking  at  the  sky,  saw  that 
there  were  some  rather  threatening  clouds  diffused 
over  it.  Indeed,  on  putting  out  his  hand,  he 
plainly  felt  a  sprinkling  of  rain. 

“  It  is  going  to  rain,”  said  he,  “  and  so  we  shall 
he  obliged  to  ride.  But  we  can  make  it  longer 
by  stopping  to  see  something  on  the  way.” 

“Well,”  said  Allie,  “  let’s  do  it.  What  shall 
we  stop  to  see  ?  ” 

“  If  there  is  going  to  be  a  shower,”  said  Rollo, 
“it  would  be  a  good  time  to  stop  and  see  the 
Pantheon.” 

“  What  is  the  Pantheon  ?  ”  asked  Allie. 

“  It  is  an  immense  round  church,  with  a  great 
hole  in  the  roof,”  replied  Rollo. 

“  Why  don’t  they  mend  the  hole  ?  ”  asked 
Charles. 

“  0,  they  made  it  so  on  purpose,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Made  it  on  purpose  !  ”  repeated  Allie.  “  I 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing.  I  should  think  the 
rain  would  come  in.” 

“  It  does  come  in,”  said  Rollo,  “  and  that  is  the 
reason  why  I  want  to  go  and  see  the  Pantheon  in 
the  time  of  a  shower.  It  is  so  curious  to  see  the 
rain  falling  down  slowly  to  the  pavement.  You 
see,  the  church  is  round,  and  there  is  a  dome  over 
it,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  dome  they  left  a  great 
round  hole.” 


162 


Ron,o  in  Rome. 


The  visit  of  the  children  to  the  Pantheon. 


“  How  big  ? 77  asked  Allie. 

“  It  is  twenty-eight  feet  across,77  said  Rollo  ; 
“  but  you  would  not  think  it  so  big  when  you 
come  to  see  it.  It  is  up  so  high  that  it  looks 
very  small.  We  know  how  big  it  is  by  the  size 
of  the  wet  spot  on  the  floor.77 

By  the  time  that  the  party  had  arrived  at  this 
point  in  the  conversation,  Rollo  saw  a  carriage 
standing  in  the  street  at  a  little  distance  before 
him,  and  he  made  a  signal  to  the  coachman  to 
come  to  him.  The  coachman  came.  Rollo  made 
his  bargain  with  him,  and  they  all  got  in.  The 
coachman  drove  immediately  to  the  Pantheon, 
and  they  arrived  there  just  as  the  shower  began  to 
come  on. 

Before  the  church  was  an  immense  portico,  sup¬ 
ported  by  columns.  The  columns,  and  the  whole 
entablature  which  they  supported,  were  darkened 
by  time,  and  cracked,  and  chipped,  and  broken 
in  the  most  remarkable  manner.  Allie  and 
Charles  stood  under  the  portico  and  looked 
around,  while  Rollo  paid  the  coachman. 

There  was  a  large  open  square  before  the  Pan¬ 
theon,  with  an  ancient  and  very  remarkable 
looking  fountain  in  the  centre  of  it.  There  was 
a  basin  around  this  fountain,  into  which  mon¬ 
strous  mouths,  carved  in  marble,  were  spouting 
water.  When  Rollo  had  paid  the  coachman,  he 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  PANTHEON. 


The  Tarpeian  Rock. 


165 


A  description  of  the  Pantheon. 

led  the  way  into  the  church.  Allie  and  Charles 
followed  him.  They  found  themselves  ushered 
into  an  immense  circular  interior,  with  rows  of 
columns  all  around  the  sides,  and  chapels,  and 
sculptures,  and  paintings,  and  beautiful  panels  of 
variegated  marbles  between  them. 

Overhead  was  an  immense  dome.  This  dome  - 
is  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  the 
circular  opening  in  the  centre  of  it  is  about  thirty 
feet  across.  Through  this  opening  the  rain  was 
descending  in  a  steady  but  gentle  shower.  It 
was  very  curious  to  look  up  and  see  the  innumer¬ 
able  drops  falling  slowly  from  the  bright  opening 
above,  down  to  the  marble  floor.  This  opening 
is  the  only  window.  There  is  no  other  place, 
as  you  will  see  by  the  engraving,  where  light 
can  come  in. 

The  margin  of  the  opening  is  formed  of  an 
immense  brass  ring.  Such  a  ring  is  necessary 
in  a  structure  like  this,  and  it  must  be  of  great 
thickness  and  strength,  to  resist  the  pressure  of 
the  stones  crowding  in  upon  it  all  around. 

This  Pantheon  was  built  by  the  ancient  Ro¬ 
mans,  two  thousand  years  ago.  What  it  was 
built  for  originally  nobody  now  knows.  In  mod¬ 
ern  times  it  has  been  changed  into  a  church.  It 
is  immensely  large,  being  nearly  a  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty 


166 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


How  to  gain  an  idea  of  the  size  of  the  Pantheon. 

feet  high.  If  you  will  inquire  and  ascertain 
what  is  the  size  of  some  large  building  in  your 
vicinity,  and  compare  it  with  these  dimensions, 
you  will  form  a  clearer  idea  of  the  magnitude  of 
this  ancient  edifice  than  you  can  acquire  in  any 
other  way. 

Rollo  and  his  party  rambled  about  the  Pan¬ 
theon,  looking  at  the  statues,  and  paintings,  and 
chapels,  and  observing  the  groups  of  pilgrims 
and  of  visitors  that  were  continually  coming  and 
going,  for  nearly  an  hour.  By  this  time  the 
shower  had  entirely  passed  away,  and  the  sun 
having  come  out  bright,  they  all  walked  home. 


Going  to  Ostia. 


167 


Hollo's  new  acquaintance,  Copley. 


Chapter  IX. 

Going  to  Ostia. 

While  Hollo  was  at  Rome,  he  made  the  ac¬ 
quaintance  of  a  boy  named  Copley.  Copley  was  . 
an  English  boy,  and  he  was  about  a  year  older 
than  Rollo.  Rollo  first  saw  him  at  the  door  of 
the  hotel,  as  he,  Copley,  was  dismounting  from 
his  horse,  on  his  return  from  a  ride  which  he  had 
been  taking  into  the  country.  He  had  been  at¬ 
tended  on  his  ride  by  a  servant  man  named 
Thomas.  Thomas  dismounted  from  his  horse 
first,  and  held  the  bridle  of  Copley’s  horse  while 
Copley  dismounted. 

“  There !  ”  said  Copley,  walking  off  with  a 
very  grand  air,  and  leaving  his  horse  in  Thomas’s 
hands  ;  “  take  the  horse,  Thomas,  and  never  bring 
me  such  an  animal  as  that  again.  Next  time  I 
ride  I  shall  take  Jessie.” 

“But  Mr.  William  has  forbidden  me  to  give 
you  Jessie,”  said  Thomas.  “  He  says  she  is  not 
safe.” 

“  It’s  none  of  his  business,”  said  Copley.  “  He 


168 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


What  Copley  said  about  his  elder  brother. 

thinks,  because  he  is  a  little  older  than  I  am,  and 
because  he  is  married,  —  though  he  has  not  been 
married  much  more  than  a  month,  —  that  he  has 
a  right  to  order  me  about  just  as  he  pleases. 
And  I  am  determined  not  to  submit  to  it  — 
would  you?” 

These  last  words  were  addressed  to  Rollo. 
Copley  had  been  advancing  towards  the  door 
of  the  hotel,  while  he  had  been  speaking,  and  had 
now  just  reached  the  step  where  Rollo  was 
standing. 

“Who  is  he?”  asked  Rollo.  “Who  is 
William  ?  ” 

“  He  is  my  brother,”  said  Copley  ;  “  but  that 
has  nothing  to  do  with  it.” 

“  Are  you  under  his  care  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Why,  I  am  travelling  with  him,”  said  Copley  ; 
“  but  he  has  no  business  on  that  account  to  lord 
it  over  me.  I  have  as  good  a  right  to  have  my 
way  as  he  has  to  have  his.” 

Some  further  conversation  then  followed  be¬ 
tween  Copley  and  Rollo,  in  which  the  former 
said  that  he  had  been  for  several  weeks  in  Rome, 
in  company  with  his  brother.  He  had  an  uncle, 
too,  in  town,  he  said,  at  another  hotel. 

“  But  I  stay  with  my  brother,”  said  Copley, 
u  because  he  is  going  to  make  a  longer  journey, 
and  T  want  to  go  with  him.” 


Going  to  Ostia. 


169 


Copley’s  intended  journey.  He  wants  a  whip. 

“  Where  is  he  going  ?  ”  asked  Hollo. 

“  Why,  we  have  engaged  a  vetturino,”  replied 
Copley,  “  and  are  going  to  travel  slowly  to  Flor¬ 
ence,  and  from  Florence  into  the  northern  part 
of  Italy,  to  Milan  and  Venice,  and  all  those 
places.  Then,  afterwards,  we  shall  go  over,  by 
some  of  the  passes  of  the  Alps,  into  Switzerland. 
I  like  to  travel  in  that  way,  I  have  so  much  fun 
in  seeing  the  towns  and  the  country.  Besides, 
when  we  travel  with  a  vetturino,  I  almost  always 
ride  on  the  outside  seat  with  him,  and  he  lets  me 
drive  sometimes.” 

“  Then  your  uncle  is  not  going  that  way  ?  ” 
said  Hollo. 

“No,”  replied  Copley;  “he  is  going  directly 
home  by  wrater.  He  is  going  down  to  Civita 
Vecchia,  to  take  the  steamer  there  for  Marseilles, 
and  I  don’t  want  to  go  that  way.” 

Copley  then  asked  Hollo  to  go  out  into  the 
Corso  with  him.  He  said  that  he  saw  a  shop 
there,  as  he  was  coming  home,  which  had  a  great 
display  of  whips  at  the  window,  and  he  wanted  to 
buy  a  whip,  so  that  when  they  set  out  on  their 
journey  he  could  have  a  whip  of  his  own. 

u  The  vetturino  never  will  let  me  have  his 
whip,”  said  he.  “  The  lash  is  so  long  that  he 
says  I  shall  get  it  entangled  in  the  harness. 
That’s  no  reason,  for  he  is  always  getting  it  en- 


170 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Asking  permission. 


Shrewd  policy. 


tangled  himself.  But  that’s  his  excuse,  and  so  I 
am  going  to  have  a  whip  of  my  own.’7 

“  Well,”  said  Rollo,  “  I  rather  think  I  will  go 
with  you  ;  but  you  must  wait  here  for  me  a  min¬ 
ute  or  two.  I  must  go  up  to  my  room  first ;  but 
I  will  come  directly  down  again.” 

Rollo  wished  to  go  up  to  his  room  to  ask  his 
uncle’s  permission  to  go  with  Copley.  He  made 
it  an  invariable  rule  never  to  go  any  where  with¬ 
out  his  uncle’s  permission.  Mr.  George  was  al¬ 
ways  ready  to  give  permission  in  such  cases,  un¬ 
less  there  was  some  really  good  and  substantial 
reason  for  withholding  it.  And  whenever  Mr. 
George  withheld  his  consent  from  any  of  Rollo’s 
proposals,  Rollo  always  submitted  at  once,  with¬ 
out  making  any  difficulty,  even  when  he  thought 
that  his  uncle  was  wrong,  and  that  he  might 
have  consented  as  well  as  not. 

It  was  not  altogether  principle  on  the  part  of 
Rollo,  that  made  him  pursue  this  course  ;  it  was 
in  a  great  measure  policy. 

“  I  like  travelling  about  the  world  with  uncle 
George,”  he  used  to  say  to  himself,  “  and  in  order 
that  I  may  travel  with  him  a  great  deal,  I  must 
make  it  for  his  interest  to  take  me.  That  is,  I 
must  manage  so  that  he  will  have  a  better  time 
when  I  am  with  him,  than  when  he  goes  alone  ; 
and  in  order  to  do  this,  I  must  take  care  never  to 


Going  to  Ostia. 


171 


Mr.  Holiday’s  parting  advice  to  Hollo. 

give  him  any  trouble  or  concern  of  any  kind  on 
my  account.  I  must  comply  with  his  wishes  in 
every  thing,  and  be  satisfied  with  such  pleasures 
and  enjoyments  as  he  fully  approves/7 

Kollo  did  not  think  of  this  altogether  of  himself. 
It  was  his  father  that  put  the  idea  into  his  mind. 
He  did  it  in  a  conversation  that  he  had  with 
Kollo  the  day  before  he  set  out  on  the  journey. 

“  Kollo,  my  boy,77  said  he,  “  in  going  on  this 
journey  into  Italy  with  your  uncle  George,  there 
is  one  danger  that  you  will  have  to  look  out  for 
very  carefully.77 

“  Getting  robbed  by  the  brigands  ?  77  asked 
Kollo. 

“  No,77  said  Mr.  Holiday ;  “  it  is  something 
very  different  from  that,  and  a  great  deal  worse. 
That  is  to  say,  the  evil  that  you  have  to  fear  from 
it  is  a  great  deal  worse  than  any  thing  that  would 
probably  happen  to  you  by  being  robbed.  The 
danger  is  of  your  having  too  much  independence, 
or,  rather,  a  wrong  kind  of  independence.  What 
is  independence  ?  77 

Kollo  reflected  a  moment  in  order  properly  to 
frame  his  answer  to  his  father’s  question.  He 
thought  he  knew  very  well  what  the  meaning  of 
the  word  independence  was,  but  he  did  not  readily 
know  how  to  clothe  the  meaning  in  language. 
At  last  he  said  that  he  thought  independence  was 


172 


R o l l o  in  Rome. 


Independence  is  sometimes  a  good  quality  and  sometimes  a  bad  one. 

doing  what  you  thought  was  best  yourself,  with¬ 
out  regard  to  what  other  people  thought. 

‘‘Very  well,”  said  his  father.  “That’s  a  pret¬ 
ty  good  definition  of  it.  And  now,  do  you  think 
it  is  a  good  quality,  or  a  bad  quality  ?  ” 

“  A  good  quality,”  said  Rollo  ;  “that  is,  I  sup¬ 
pose  it  is  good,”  he  added,  hesitatingly,  “but  I 
don’t  know.” 

u  It  depends  upon  circumstances,”  said  Mr. 
Holiday.  “  Should  you  think  that  firing  his  gun 
when  he  thought  best,  instead  of  when  the  captain 
thought  best,  was  a  good  thing  in  a  soldier,  on 
the  field  of  battle  ?  ” 

“  No,  sir,”  said  Rollo. 

“  And  so,  would  the  independence  of  the  colonel 
of  a  regiment,”  continued  Mr.  Holiday,  “in 
marching  when  he  thought  best,  instead  of  when 
the  general  ordered  him,  be  a  good  quality  or  a 
bad  quality  ?  ” 

“  Bad,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  very  bad  indeed.” 

“  Independence  is  an  excellent  quality  in  its 
own  right  and  proper  sphere,”  said  Mr.  Holiday  ; 
“  but  when  it  takes  the  form  of  disregarding  or 
rebelling  against  right  and  proper  authority,  it 
is  a  very  bad  quality.  It  cannot  be  tolerated. 
If  it  were  allowed  generally  to  prevail  among 
mankind,  the  whole  world  would  be  thrown  into 
confusion,  and  nothing  could  go  on.  This  is  now 


Going  to  Ostia. 


173 


The  duty  of  a  minor. 

the  kind  of  independence  that  you  must  guard 
against.  You  are  growing  up  rapidly,  and  in¬ 
creasing  in  strength  and  knowledge  every  day. 
You  are  becoming  a  young  man,  and  in  a  great 
many  of  the  situations  in  which  you  are  placed, 
you  are  fully  competent  to  take  care  of  yourself. 
Still  you  are  what  the  law  calls  a  minor.  That 
is,  you  have  not  arrived  at  an  age  when  you  can 
safely  be  your  own  master,  and  support  and  take 
care  of  yourself.  Consequently,  the  law  makes 
it  your  father’s  duty,  for  some  years  to  come,  to 
furnish  money  for  your  support,  and  to  provide 
for  you  all  necessary  protection.  And  the  same 
law  makes  it  your  duty  to  be  under  my  direction, 
to  conform  your  conduct  to  my  judgment  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  to  do,  not  as  you  think  best,  but  as 
J,  or  whomsoever  I  may  delegate  to  act  in  my 
stead,  thinks  best.  This  is  reasonable.  As  long 
as  a  boy  depends  upon  his  father  for  the  means  of 
his  support,  it  is  right  that  he  should  act  as  his 
father’s  judgment  dictates.'  It  wdll  be  time 
enough  for  him  to  expect  that  he  should  act 
according  to  his  own  judgment,  in  his  conduct, 
when  he  is  able  to  earn  his  own  living,  and  so 
release  his  father  from  all  responsibility  on  his 
account.  In  a  word,  the  pecuniary  responsibility 
of  the  father,  and  the  moral  obligation  of  the  son, 
go  together.” 


174 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Reasons  why  Rollo  was  obedient  to  his  uncle. 

“  Yes,  father,”  said  Hollo  ;  “  I  think  that  is  all 
true.” 

“  And  now,”  continued  Mr.  Holiday,  “  I  put 
you,  for  this  journey,  under  your  uncle  George’s 
care.  I  delegate  my  parental  power  over  you  to 
him.  It  is  your  duty,  therefore,  to  obey  him  in 
all  things,  and  to  comply  with  all  his  wishes,  just 
as  you  would  if  I  were  in  his  place.'7 

“  Yes,  father,”  said  Rollo,  “  I  will.77 

“  Besides  being  your  duty,”  added  Mr.  Holiday, 
“  it  is  greatly  for  your  interest  to  do  so.  If  you 
begin  to  show  your  independence,  as  it  is  some¬ 
times  called,  and  insist  on  doing  what  you  think 
is  best,  instead  of  what  he  thinks  is  best,  so  as  to 
cause  him  trouble,  and  make  him  feel  anxious  and 
uneasy  on  your  account,  you  will  spoil  the  pleas¬ 
ure  of  his  journey,  and  he  will  not  wish  to  take 
you  with  him  again.” 

Mr.  Holiday  had  some  further  conversation 
with  Rollo  on  the  subject,  and  the  effect  of  what 
he  said  was  to  lead  Rollo  to  think  more  than  he 
otherwise  would  have  done  on  the  proper  course 
which  a  boy  ought  to  pursue  when  travelling 
under  the  charge  of  his  uncle,  and  he  resolved 
that  he  would,  in  all  cases,  not  only  obey  impli¬ 
citly  his  uncle’s  commands,  but  that  he  would 
comply  readily  and  cordially  with  his  wishes, 
whenever  he  could  ascertain  them. 


Going  to  Ostia. 


175 


Kollo  asks  permission  to  go  out  with  Copley. 

Accordingly,  in  this  case,  he  would  not  go  even 
out  into  the  Corso  without  first  going  up  to 
obtain  his  uncle’s  permission.  He  opened  the 
door  of  the  room,  and  found  his  uncle  there, 
writing  a  letter. 

“  Uncle  George,”  said  he,  44  here  is  a  boy  down 
below,  who  asks  me  to  go  out  into  the  Corso  with 
him.” 

44  What  boy  is  it  ?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

44  I  don’t  know  what  his  name  is,”  said  Rollo. 
44  He  is  an  English  boy,  I  suppose.  He  just  came 
in  from  taking  a  ride  on  horseback.” 

“How  long  shall  you  probably  be  gone?” 
said  Mr.  George. 

44 1  don’t  know,”  said  Rollo,  hesitating.  44  Per¬ 
haps  about  half  an  hour.” 

44  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  44  you  can  be 
gone  two  hours  if  you  choose.  If  you  form  any 
plan  that  will  require  more  time  than  that,  come 
home  first  and  let  me  know.” 

So  Rollo  went  down  stairs  again,  and  having 
joined  Copley  at  the  door,  they  went  together 
out  towards  the  Corso. 

In  the  mean  time,  Copley’s  brother  William 
and  his  wife  were  waiting  in  their  room  for  Cop¬ 
ley  to  come  up.  They  knew  at  what  hour  he 
would  return  from  his  ride,  and  they  had  formed 
a  plan  for  going  in  a  carriage  out  upon  the  Appian 


176 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Copley's  brother  waits  in  vain  for  him. 

Way,  to  see  some  ancient  ruins  there.  They 
knew  very  well  that  Copley  would  not  care  any 
thing  about  the  ruins,  but  he  always  liked  to  go 
with  them  when  they  took  drives  in  the  environs 
of  Rome.  The  special  reason  why  Copley  was 
so  much  interested  in  going  on  these  excursions 
was,  that  he  was  accustomed,  in  such  cases,  to  sit 
on  the  front  seat  with  the  coachman,  as  he  did 
when  travelling  with  the  vetturins,  and  some¬ 
times  he  obtained  permission  to  drive  a  little,  by 
secretly  offering  the  coachman  a  piece  of  money. 
Mr.  William  had  charged  his  brother  to  come  up 
to  the  parlor  as  soon  as  he  came  home  from  his 
fide,  and  Copley  ought  to  have  done  so.  But  it 
was  never  Copley’s  practice  to  pay  much  heed  to 
requests  of  this  kind  from  his  brother. 

Mr.  William,  having  waited  for  some  time  after 
lie  had  seen  the  two  horses  arrive  at  the  door, 
wondering  all  the  time  why  Copley  did  not  come 
up,  went  down  to  the  door  to  inquire  what  had 
become  of  him.  The  concierge  informed  him  that 
Copley  had  gone  away  with  another  boy,  out  to 
the  Corso.  So  Mr.  William  ordered  the  carriage, 
and  he  and  his  wife  went  away  on  their  excursion 
alone. 

Rollo  and  Copley  had  a  very  pleasant  walk 
along  the  Corso.  They  were  obliged,  however, 
to  walk  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  for  the  side- 


Going  to  Ostia. 


177 


Rollo  acts  as  interpreter  for  Copley. 

walks  were  so  narrow  and  so  irregular  in  shape, 
sometimes  growing  narrower  and  narrower,  until 
at  length  there  was  scarcely  any  thing  but  the 
curb-stone  left,  that  Rollo  and  Copley  could  not 
walk  upon  them. 

At  last,  however,  they  came  to  the  place  where 
Copley  had  seen  the  whips.  Copley  had  plenty  of 
money,  but  I  do  not  know  how  he  would  have 
managed  to  buy  one  of  the  whips,  if  Rollo  had 
not  been  with  him  ;  for  the  man  who  had  them 
to  sell  could  only  speak  French  and  Italian,  and 
Copley  did  not  know  either  of  these  languages. 
He  had  been  studying  French,  it  is  true,  for  sev¬ 
eral  years  in  school,  but  he  had  taken  no  interest 
in  learning  the  language,  and  the  little  knowl¬ 
edge  of  it  which  he  had  acquired  was  not  of  such 
a  character  as  to  be  of  any  use  to  him.  As  to 
the  Italian,  he  knew  nothing  at  all  of  it. 

Accordingly,  Rollo  acted  as  interpreter. 

“  I  might  have  brought  our  courier  with  us,” 
said  Copley,  “  only  it  is  such  a  bore  to  have  him 
about ;  and  you  do  just  as  well.” 

After  having  bought  the  whip,  Copley  proposed 
that  they  should  go  to  the  diligence  office  and  see 
if  there  were  any  diligences  there  about  setting 
out  on  their  journeys.  The  diligence  office  which 
Copley  referred  to  was  not  in  the  Corso,  but  in 
another  street,  at  right  angles  to  it.  When  the 
12 


178 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  steamer  from  Ostia. 


boys  reached  the  office,  they  found  that  there 
were  no  diligences  there  ;  so  they  rambled  on 
without  much  idea  of  where  they  were  going, 
until  at  length  they  came  to  the  river,  near  one 
of  the  bridges  leading  across  it.  A  short  dis¬ 
tance  below  the  bridge,  there  was  a  small  steam¬ 
boat  coming  up  the  river. 

“  Ah,  look  there  !  ”  said  Copley.  “  There’s  a 
steamer  coming  !  Where  do  you  suppose  that 
steamer  is  coming  from  ?  ” 

“  It  is  coming  from  Ostia,  I  suppose,”  said 
Rollo.  “  At  any  rate,  I  know  that  there  is  a 
steamer  that  goes  to  Ostia.” 

“  Let  us  go  there,”  said  Copley.  “  Where  is 
Ostia  ?  ” 

“  It  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,”  said  Rollo. 
“  You  may  know  that  from  the  name.  Ostia  is 
the  Latin  word  for  mouth.” 

“  I  hate  Latin,”  said  Copley. 

The  little  steamer  came  rounding  up  to  a  pier 
not  far  below  the  bridge.  Copley  and  Rollo 
leaned  over  the  parapet,  and  looked  to  see  the 
passengers  get  out ;  but  there  were  very  few  pas¬ 
sengers  to  come.  The  boys  then  went  down 
towards  the  pier,  and  on  inquiring  of  a  gentle¬ 
man  whom  they  saw  there,  they  found  that  the 
boat  went  down  the  river  to  Ostia  every  morn¬ 
ing,  and  returned  every  night/ and  Copley  im- 


Going  to  Ostia. 


179 


Copley  proposes  an  excursion  to  Ostia. 

mediately  conceived  the  idea  of  going  down  in 
her. 

“  Let’s  go  down  to-morrow,”  said  he.  “  It  is 
just  far  enough  for  a  pleasant  sail.” 

Rollo’s  imagination  was  quite  taken  with  the 
idea  of  sailing  down  to  Ostia.  There  seems  to 
be  something  specially  attractive  to  boys  in  the 
idea  of  sailing  down  to  the  mouths  of  rivers.  It 
is  so  pleasant  to  watch  the  gradual  widening  of 
the  stream,  and  to  meet  vessels  coming  up,  and 
to  see  the  fishermen’s  boats,  and  the  nets  spread 
on  the  land,  and  the  little  inlets,  with  the  tide 
flowing  in  and  out,  and  other  indications  of  the 
approach  towards  the  sea.  Besides,  Hollo  wished 
very  much  to  see  what  sort  of  a  place  Ostia 
was. 

However,  he  would  not  positively  promise  to 
go.  He  said  he  should  like  to  go  very  much, 
but  that  he  could  not  decide  the  question  until  he 
should  go  home. 

“  I  must  see  uncle  George  first,”  said  Rollo. 
“  It  is  possible  that  he  may  have  formed  some  en¬ 
gagement  for  me  to-morrow.” 

“  0,  never  mind  what  engagement  he  has 
formed,”  said  Copley.  “  Tell  him  that  you  can’t 
go  with  him,  because  you  have  agreed  to  go  down 
the  river  with  me.” 

“  No,”  said  Rollo,  shaking  his  head. 


180 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


What  Mr.  George  said  to  the  plan. 

“  Why,  what  a  little  fool  you  are !  ”  said 
Copley. 

After  remaining  some  time  on  the  bridge,  look¬ 
ing  at  the  steamer,  the  boys  returned  home. 
Rollo  took  care  to  arrive  at  the  hotel  before  the 
two  hours  were  expired.  Mr.  George  had  just 
finished  his  letter,  and  was  folding  it  up  and  seal¬ 
ing  it. 

“Well,  Rollo,”  said  Mr.  George,  “have  you 
had  a  pleasant  walk  ? ” 

“Very  pleasant,  indeed,”  said  Rollo.  “We 
walked  in  the  Corso  till  Copley  had  bought  his 
whip,  and  then  we  went  on  till  we  came  to  the 
bridge,  and  there  we  saw  a  steamboat  which  goes 
to  Ostia  and  back.  Copley  wants  me  to  go  down 
with  him  in  her  to-morrow.  We  shall  get  back 
about  this  time,  I  suppose.” 

Mr.  George  was  at  this  time  just  writing  the 
address  on  the  back  of  his  letter.  He  did  not 
say  any  thing,  but  Rollo  observed  a  very  slight 
and  almost  imperceptible  shaking  of  his  head. 

“  You  don’t  like  the  plan  very  well,  uncle 
George,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Not  very  well,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  I  feel  a 
little  afraid  of  it.” 

“  Then  it  is  of  no  consequence,”  said  Rollo. 
“  I  don’t  care  a  great  deal  about  going.” 

Most  boys,  perhaps,  under  these  circumstances, 


Going  to  Ostia. 


181 


Kollo’s  acquiescence.  Copley’s  secret  feeling. 

would  have  asked  why,  in  order  that,  after  hear¬ 
ing  their  uncle’s  objections  to  their  plans,  they 
might  argue  against  them.  But  Hollo  knew  very 
well  that  this  would  be  very  bad  policy  for  him. 

u  If  uncle  George  finds  that  he  has  a  long  ar¬ 
gument  to  maintain  against  me,  every  time  that 
he  refuses  me  any  thing,”  said  he  to  himself,  “  he 
will  soon  get  tired  of  having  me  under  his  care.” 

So  he  acquiesced  at  once  in  what  he  perceived 
was  his  uncle’s  opinion,  and  resolved  to  tell  Cop¬ 
ley,  when  he  saw  him,  that  he  could  not  go  to 
Ostia. 

Copley  was  to  have  called  that  evening  at 
Rollo’s  room,  to  obtain  his  answer  ;  but  on  fur¬ 
ther  reflection,  he  concluded  not  to  do  so. 

Indeed,  he  had  a  secret  feeling  that  neither 
Rollo’s  uncle  nor  his  own  brother  would  approve 
of  the  plan  of  two  such  boys  going  alone,  in  such 
a  country,  on  an  expedition  which  was  entirely 
outside  of  the  usual  range  of  tourists  and  travel¬ 
lers.  That  this  expedition  was  outside  the  range 
was  evident  from  the  character  of  the  steam¬ 
boat  that  the  boys  had  seen,  which  was  evidently 
not  intended  for  the  conveyance  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  but  of  people  of  the  country  —  and 
those,  moreover,  of  the  lowest  class. 

So  Copley  concluded  that  if  he  were  to  go  at 
all  to  Ostia,  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  go 


182 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Copley  modifies  his  plan. 

by  stealth,  and  he  resolved  not  to  say  any  thing 
about  his  plan  to  his  brother  or  sister.  He  was 
very  sure,  too,  that  Rollo  would  fail  of  obtaining 
his  uncle’s  consent.  So  he  concluded  to  say  no 
more  to  Rollo  on  the  subject,  but  instead  of  that? 
he  proposed  the  plan  to  another  boy  of  his  ac¬ 
quaintance,  who  lodged  with  his  friends  at  an¬ 
other  hotel. 

“  The  best  way  will  be,”  said  he,  when  he  made 
the  proposal,  “  for  us  not  to  tell  any  body  where 
we  are  going.” 

“  Then  they’ll  wonder  where  we  are,”  said  the 
boy,  “  and  be  frightened  half  to  death  about  us.” 

“  But  we  can  leave  word  when  we  go,  with  the 
porter  of  the  hotel,  or  the  concierge,”  said  Cop¬ 
ley,  “  that  we  have  gone  down  the  river  in  the 
steamboat,  and  shall  not  be  back  till  night.” 

“  Good,”  said  the  other  boy ;  “  that’s  what 
we’ll  do.” 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning,  the  two  boys 
left  word  at  their  respective  hotels  where  they 
were  going,  and  set  forth.  They  stole  away  very 
secretly,  and  after  running  round  the  corner,  they 
crept  along  close  to  the  wall  of  the  hotel,  until 
they  thought  they  were  at  a  safe  distance.  They 
reached  the  boat  in  good  season,  went  on  board, 
and  in  due  time  set  sail. 

About  ten  o’clock,  when  the  two  boys  had 


Going  to  Ostia. 


188 


Mr.  William  is  informed  where  Copley  has  gone. 

been  gone  about  an  hour,  Mr.  William  began  to 
miss  his  brother,  and  to  wonder  where  he  had 
gone.  So  he  rang  the  bell,  and  his  courier  came 
into  the  room. 

“Pacifico,”  said  Mr.  William,  “do  you  know 
where  Copley  is  ?  ” 

“  No,  sir,”  said  Pacifico  ;  “I  did  not  see  him 
from  since  it  was  nine  o’clock.” 

“  Go  down  below,”  said  Mr.  William,  “  and 
inquire  of  the  concierge  and  the  porters  if  they 
have  seen  him,  or  know  where  he  is.” 

Mr.  William  followed  Pacifico  as  he  went  out, 
in  order  to  speak  a  moment  to  a  friend  of  his 
who  occupied  the  next  apartment.  As  he  came 
back  he  met  Pacifico  at  the  head  of  the  stairs, 
and  received  his  answer  there.  The  answer  was, 
that  Copley  had  gone  down  the  river  to  Ostia 
with  another  boy. 

Mr.  William  was  greatly  astonished  to  hear 
this.  He,  however,  said  nothing  to  Pacifico,  but 
after  pausing  a  moment,  as  if  reflecting  upon 
what  he  had  heard,  he  went  back  into  his  own 
apartment. 

“  Maria,”  said  he,  addressing  his  young  wife, 
“  where  do  you  think  Copley  has  gone  ?  ” 

“  I  cannot  imagine,”  said  Maria. 

“  He  has  gone  down  the  Tiber  in  the  steamer 
to  Ostia,”  replied  Mr.  William. 


184 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Mr.  William  resolves  to  send  Copley  home. 


“Is  it  possible ?”  exclaimed  Maria,  in  aston¬ 
ishment. 

“  Yes,”  said  William  ;  “  and  I  am  very  glad 
of  it.” 

“  Glad  of  it  ?  ”  repeated  Maria,  surprised  more 
and  more. 

“Yes,”  said  Mr.  William  ;  “  for  it  decides  me 
what  to  do.  I  shall  send  him  home  with  his  un¬ 
cle.  I  have  been  half  inclined  to  do  this  for 
some  time,  and  this  settles  the  question.  It  de¬ 
stroys  all  the  peace  and  comfort  of  our  journey 
to  have  a  boy  with  us  that  is  determined  to  have 
his  own  way,  without  regard  to  the  inconvenience 
or  anxiety  that  he  occasions  me.” 

“  But  how  will  you  manage  to  get  him  to  go 
with  his  uncle  ?  ”  said  Maria.  “  He  will  refuse 
to  go,  and  insist  on  accompanying  us,  for  his  un¬ 
cle  is  going  directly  home,  which  is  what  he  does 
not  wish  to  do.” 

“Ill  manage  that,”  said  Mr.  William.  “Ill 
take  a  hint  from  his  own  way  of  proceeding.  I 
will  go  off  and  leave  him.” 

“  0  husband,”  said  Maria,  “  that  will  never 
do.” 

“  Youll  see  how  I  will  manage  it,”  said  Mr. 
William. 

So  saying,  Mr.  William  rang  the  bell.  Pacifi- 
co  immediately  appeared. 


Going  to  Ostia. 


185 


A  sudden  starting.  Mr.  William’s  letter. 

“I  wish  to  write  a  letter,”  said  Mr.  William. 
“  Bring  me  some  paper,  and  pen  and  ink.” 

Pacifico  brought  the  writing  materials,  and 
laid  them  on  the  table. 

“  I  have  concluded  to  .leave  town  this  after¬ 
noon,”  said  Mr.  William,  as  he  took  up  the  pen 
and  began  to  make  preparations  to  write.  “I 
intend  to  go  as  far  as  Civita  Castellana  to-night. 
We  will  set  out  at  two  o’clock.  I  wish  you  to 
go  and  find  our  vetturino,  and  direct  him  to  be 
here  half  an  hour  before  that  time  with  the  car¬ 
riage,  to  load  the  baggage.  He  knows  that  we 
were  going  soon,  and  he  will  be  prepared.  In  the 
mean  time  you  may  get  our  baggage  ready. 
Copley’s  trunk,  however,  is  not  to  go.  Pack 
that,  and  send  it  by  a  porter  over  to  the  Hotel 
d’Amerique.  I  am  going  to  leave  him  there 
under  the  care  of  his  uncle.” 

“Very  well,  sir,”  said  Pacifico;  “I  shall 
do  it.” 

Pacifico  retired,  and  Mr.  William  proceeded 
to  write  his  letter.  When  it  was  finished,  he 
read,  it  to  his  wife,  as  follows.  It  was  addressed 
to  his  father  in  England. 

‘‘Rome,  June  20,  1858. 

“  I)ear  Father  :  We  are  all  well,  and,  on  the 
whole,  have  enjoyed  our  residence  in  Pome  very 
much.  We  are  now,  however,  about  ready  to 


186 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Copley’s  folly. 

leave.  We  set  off  this  afternoon  for  Florence 
and  the  north  of  Italy. 

“  I  have  concluded,  all  things  considered,  to 
let  Copley  return  to  you  with  his  uncle.  Though 
a  pretty  good  boy  in  other  respects,  he  does  not 
seem  to  be  quite  willing  enough  to  submit  to  my 
direction,  to  make  it  pleasant  for  me,  or  safe  for 
him,  that  we  should  travel  together.  I  will  not 
say  that  it  is  his  fault  altogether.  It  is  perhaps 
because  there  is  not  difference  enough  in  our 
ages  for  him  to  feel  that  I  ought  to  have  any  au¬ 
thority  over  him.  At  any  rate,  he  is  unwilling 
to  acknowledge  my  authority,  and  he  takes  so 
many  liberties  that  I  am  kept  in  a  constant  state 
of  anxiety  on  his  account.  Besides,  I  do  not 
think  that  it  is  safe  for  him  to  be  so  much  at  his 
own  disposal.  This  country  is  full  of  thieves, 
brigands,  and  rogues,  of  the  most  desperate  and 
reckless  character  ;  and  young  men  sometimes 
suffer  extremely  in  falling  into  their  hands.  Cop¬ 
ley  is  not  aware  of  the  danger,  and  he  thinks 
that  the  restraints  which  I  feel  compelled  to  im¬ 
pose  upon  him  are  unnecessary  and  vexatious. 
Often  he  will  not  submit  to  them.  To-day,  he 
has  gone  down  the  river  on  board  one  of  the 
country  steamers,  without  saying  any  thing  to  me 
about  it ;  and,  though  I  do  not  suppose  he  will 
get  into  any  difficulty,  in  making  such  an  excur- 


Going  to  Ostia. 


187 


•  Mr.  William  goes  to  see  his  uncle. 


sion,  still  the  fact  that  he  takes  the  liberty  of 
doing  such  things  keeps  me  continually  uneasy 
about  him,  and  there  is  danger  that,  soon¬ 
er  or  later,  he  will  get  into  some  serious 
trouble. 

“  I  have,  accordingly,  concluded  to  leave  him 
under  uncle7?  charge,  with  a  view  of  having  him 
return  with  uncle  to  England,  by  way  of  the 
Mediterranean.  Uncle  will  leave  here  in  a  few 
days,  and  you  may  accordingly  expect  to  see 
Copley  at  home  again  in  the  course  of  a  week 
after  receiving  this. 

“  With  love  from  Maria  and  myself  for  all  at 
home,  I  am  your  dutiful  son, 

“  William  Grant.77 

Mr.  William  sealed  his  letter,  and  then  took  it 
down  to  the  “bureau,77  as  the  hotel  office  is  called, 
where  he  left  it  with  the  secretary  of  the  hotel, 
to  be  sent  to  the  post  office. 

He  then  went  out  at  the  front  door  of  the  ho¬ 
tel  to  the  public  square  before  it,  and  there  tak¬ 
ing  a  carriage,  he  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive 
to  the  Hotel  d7Amerique.  When  arrived  there, 
he  went  to  his  uncle7s  apartment,  and  explained 
the  plan  which  he  had  formed,  and  the  reason  for 
it.  His  uncle  said  that  he  would  very  readily 
take  Copley  under  his  charge.  Mr.  William  then 


188 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Thomas’s  instructions  about  Copley. 


said  that  he  was  intending  to  leave  town  that 
day,  but  he  should  leave  Thomas  at  his  hotel  to 
wait  for  Copley,  and  bring  him  over  to  the  Hotel 
d’Amerique  as  soon  as  he  returned. 

This  arrangement  was  carried  into  effect.  Mr. 
William  directed  Thomas  to  remain  in  town,  to 
take  care  of  Copley  on  his  return  from  Ostia,  and 
deliver  him  safely  into  his  uncle’s  hands.  It  oc¬ 
casioned  Mr.  William  no  inconvenience  to  leave 
Thomas  behind  for  a  day,  since,  though  Thomas 
usually  travelled  in  the  same  carriage  with  the 
family,  the  vetturino  himself  always  drove. 
Thomas,  together  with  Pacifico,  the  courier,  rode 
on  an  outside  seat  in  front,  while  Copley  some¬ 
times  rode  inside,  though  more  frequently  on  the 
driver’s  seat,  by  the  side  of  the  vetturino. 

“  Thomas,”  said  Mr.  Grant,  in  giving  Thomas 
his  instructions,  “  I  am  going  to  set  out  on  my 
journey  this  afternoon,  but  I  shall  leave  you 
behind,  to  come  on  to-night  by  the  diligence. 
You  will  find  me  at  the  Hotel  of  the  Post,  at 
Civita  Castellana.  I  wish  you  to  wait  here  until 
Copley  comes  home,  and  then  tell  him  that  I  have 
gone  out  of  town,  and  shall  not  be  back  to-night, 
and  that  he  is  going  to  spend  the  night  at  the 
Hotel  d’Amerique  with  his  uncle.  Do  not  tell 
him  where  I  have  gone,  nor  that  you  are  coming 
after  me.  His  uncle  will  tell  him  all  to-morrow 


morning. 


Going  to  Ostia. 


189 


Copley’s  return.  His  questions  and  Thomas’s  answers. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  these  occurrences  had 
been  taking  place  at  the  hotel,  Copley  and  his 
companion  had  been  sailing  down  the  river  on 
board  the  little  steamboat.  They  had,  on  the 
whole,  a  pretty  pleasant  time,  though  they  were 
somewhat  disappointed  in  the  scenery  on  the  banks 
of  the  river.  The  country  was  perfectly  bare  of 
trees,  and  destitute  of  all  cultivation.  There  were 
no  villages,  and  scarcely  a  human  habitation  to  be 
seen.  The  boys,  however,  met  with  no  trouble, 
and  returned  safely  home  about  four  o’clock. 

Copley  found  Thomas  waiting  for  him  at  the 
hotel  door. 

“  Mr.  Copley,”  said  Thomas,  as  Copley  ad¬ 
vanced  towards  the  door,  “  your  brother  has  gone 
out  of  town,  and  will  not  be  back  to-night,  and  I 
was  to  wait  here  for  you,  and  tell  you  that  you 
were  to  go  and  spend  the  night  at  your  uncle’s 
apartment  at  the  Hotel  d’Amerique.” 

“  Good  !  ”  said  Copley.  He  felt  quite  relieved 
to  find  that  his  brother  had  gone  away,  as  he 
thus  escaped  the  danger  of  being  called  to  ac¬ 
count  for  his  misdemeanor. 

“  Where  has  he  gone  ?  ”  asked  Copley. 

“  I  can’t  say,”  said  Thomas  ;  “  but  perhaps 
your  uncle  can  tell  you.” 

By  the  phrase  “  I  can’t  say,”  Thomas  secretly 
meant  that  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  say,  though 


190 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Copley  receives  Mr.  William’s  note. 

Copley  understood  him  to  mean  that  he  did  not 
know. 

“Very  well,”  said  Copley;  “I  don’t  care 
where  he  has  gone.  It  makes  no  difference  to 
me.” 

Copley  found  that  it  did  make  some  difference 
to  him,  when  he  learned,  the  next  morning,  that 
his  brother  had  set  out  on  his  journey  to  the 
north  of  Italy,  and  to  Switzerland,  and  had  left 
him  behind  to  return  home  at  once  with  his  uncle 
by  sea.  His  uncle  did  not  tell  him  that  night 
where  his  brother  had  gone,  for  fear  that  Copley 
might  make  some  difficulty,  by  insisting  on  going 
on  after  him  in  the  diligence  with  Thomas.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  when  Copley  asked  the  question,  his 
uncle  only  answered  vaguely,  that  his  brother 
had  gone  out  somewhere  into  the  environs  of 
Rome.  The  next  morning,  however,  he  handed 
Copley  a  note  which  his  brother  had  left  for  him, 
which  note  Copley,  on  opening  it,  found  to  be  as 
follows  :  — 

“Wednesday  Morning. 

“  Dear  Copley  :  I  have  concluded  to  set  out 
this  afternoon  on  my  journey  north.  I  am  sorry 
that  you  are  not  here  to  bid  me  good  by.  I  did 
not  know  that  you  were  going  down  the  river. 

“  It  must  be  hard  for  a  boy  as  old  as  you  to 
be  under  the  command  of  one  who  is,  after  all. 


Going  to  Ostia. 


191 


Copley’s  punishment. 

only  his  brother,  —  and  not  a  great  many  years 
older  than  he  is  himself,  —  for  I  am  not  quite  ten 
years  older  than  you.  I  know  you  have  found 
this  hard,  and  so  I  have  concluded  that  you  had 
better  return  home  with  uncle.  One  of  these 
days,  when  you  grow  up  to  manhood,  you  can 
make  a  journey  into  Italy  again,  and  then  you 
will  be  your  own  master,  and  can  do  as  you 
please,  without  any  danger.  Wishing  you  a 
very  pleasant  voyage, 

“  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

“William  Grant.” 

Copley’s  indignation  and  rage  at  reading  this 
letter  seemed  at  first  to  know  no  bounds.  He 
was,  however,  entirely  helpless.  His  brother 
had  gone,  and  he  did  not  even  know  what  road 
he  had  taken.  Thomas  had  gone,  too,  so  that 
there  was  no  help  for  him  whatever. 

In  two  days  after  that,  he  went  with  his  uncle 
to  Civita  Yecchia,  the  port  of  Rome,  on  the  Med¬ 
iterranean,  and  there  embarked  on  board  the 
steamer  “  for  Marseilles  direct,”  and  so  returned 
to  England. 


192 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  reading  room  in  Rome. 


The  bookstore  of  Piale. 


Chapter  X. 

The  Vatican. 

On  the  day  when  Rollo  went  with  Charles  and 
Allie  to  see  the  Tarpeian  Rock,  the  reader  will 
perhaps  recollect  that  Mr.  George  was  engaged 
at  the  reading  room  in  reading  the  American 
papers  which  had  that  morning  arrived.  When 
Rollo  returned  from  his  excursion,  he  found  that 
Mr.  George  had  not  got  home,  and  he  accordingly 
concluded  to  go  to  the  reading  room  and  see  if  he 
could  find  him. 

This  reading  room  is  attached  to  an  English 
bookstore  and  library,  and  is  a  great  place  of 
resort  for  visitors  at  Rome.  It  is  situated  at  the 
end  of  the  Piazza  di  Spagna,  which  is  one  of  the 
principal  and  most  frequented  public  squares  in 
Rome.  This  square  contains  several  of  the  chief 
hotels,  and  a  great  many  shops.  The  bookstore 
of  Piale  is  the  general  centre  of  news  and  intelli¬ 
gence  for  all  English  and  American  visitors. 
Here  people  come  to  make  inquiries  for  their 
friends,  for  there  is  a  register  kept  at  the  library 


The  Vatican. 


193 


The  travellers’  register. 


Visitors  at  the  bookstore. 


with  the  names  of  all  the  English  and  American 
visitors  in  Rome  recorded  in  it,  and  the  addresses 
of  the  hotels  or  private  houses  where  they  are 
lodging.  Here  all  sorts  of  notices  are  posted  up, 
such  as  advertisements  of  things  lost  or  found,  of 
parties  forming  for  excursions,  of  couriers  want¬ 
ing  places  or  families  wanting  couriers,  of  paint¬ 
ings  for  sale,  carriages  for  sale  or  for  hire,  —  and 
all  such  things. 

Piale’s  establishment  contains  a  number  of  dif¬ 
ferent  rooms.  The  first  that  Rollo  entered  on 
arriving  at  the  place  was  the  bookstore.  This 
was  a  small  room.  There  was  a  desk  at  one  end, 
where  a  clerk  was  sitting.  There  were  shelves 
filled  with  books  all  around  the  room,  and  a  large 
table  in  the  centre,  which  was  also  covered  with 
books  arranged  in  tiers  one  above  the  other  in  a 
sloping  direction.  There  were  several  doors  lead¬ 
ing  off  from  this  apartment,  one  of  which  led  to 
a  room  where  a  circulating  library  was  kept,  and 
another  to  the  reading  room. 

When  Rollo  entered  the  bookstore,  he  saw 
several  groups  of  visitors  there.  There  were  two 
or  three  ladies  looking  over  the  books  on  the 
shelves.  There  was  a  group  of  gentlemen  stand¬ 
ing  near  the  desk,  talking  together,  with  a  paper 
in  their  hands  which  seemed  to  contain  a  list  of 
names.  Just  as  Rollo  entered,  a  carriage  drove 
13 


194 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Conversation  among  the  visitors  at  Piale's. 

up  to  the  door,  and  two  ladies  dismounted  from  it 
and  came  in.  Rollons  attention  was  first  attracted 
to  these  two  ladies.  One  of  them,  on  entering, 
accosted  the  clerk,  and  asked  to  look  at  the  regis¬ 
ter.  The  clerk  immediately  gave  the  two  ladies 
seats  at  a  side  table,  where  there  was  a  large  book 
full  of  names  and  addresses.  The  ladies  sat  down, 
and  began  to  look  over  the  book.  They  had  just 
arrived  from  Naples,  and  they  wished  to  know 
what  friends  and  acquaintances  of  theirs  there 
were  in  town. 

Rollo  began  to  examine  the  books  on  the  table, 
or  counter,  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  while 
doing  so  he  happened  to  pass  near  the  gentlemen 
that  were  looking  at  the  paper. 

“We  want  twelve,”  said  one  of  the  gentlemen, 
“  and  we  have  got  only  nine.” 

“Yes,”  said  the  other,  “we  want  three  more. 
It  must  be  that  there  are  a  great  many  in  town 
who  would  like  to  go,  if  we  could  only  find  them 
out.” 

Rollo’s  attention  was  immediately  arrested  by 
these  words.  It  was  obvious  that  the  gentlemen 
were  forming  a  party  to  go  somewhere,  or  to  see 
something,  and  he  felt  quite  confident  that  his 
uncle  George  would  like  to  join  them. 

“At  any  rate,”  said  he  to  himself,  “I  should 
like  to  go,  wherever  it  is.” 


The  Vatican. 


195 


An  excursion  to  the  Vatican  proposed. 

So  Rollo  summoned  courage  to  accost  the  per¬ 
sons  who  were  consulting  together,  and  to  ask 
them  if  they  wished  to  find  some  gentlemen  to 
make  up  a  party. 

“  Gentlemen  or  ladies  either,”  said  one  of  them, 
“no  matter  which.  We  are  making  up  a  party 
to  go  and  see  the  statues  in  the  Yatican  by  torch 
light.” 

When  Rollo  heard  the  words  “  torch  light,”  his 
interest  in  the  proposed  party  was  greatly  in¬ 
creased,  and  he  said  he  had  no  doubt  that  his 
uncle  would  like  to  go. 

“I  am  very  sure  he  would  like  to  go,”  said 
Rollo,  “and  to  take  me.” 

“  Yery  well,”  said  one  of  the  gentlemen,  “  that 
will  make  two.  And  we  only  want  three.  Where 
is  your  uncle  ?  ” 

“  He  is  in  the  reading  room,”  said  Rollo. 
“Wait  a  moment,  and  Fll  call  him.” 

“That’s  right,”  said  the  gentleman.  “Tell 
him  it  will  cost  us  a  scudo  and  a  half  apiece.” 

So  Rollo,  taking  out  half  a  paul  from  his 
pocket,  —  that  being  the  price  of  admission  to 
the  reading  room  for  a  single  day,  —  and  giving 
it  to  the  clerk  at  the  desk,  opened  a  door  by  the 
side  of  the  desk,  and  passed  into  the  reading  room. 
Instead  of  being  only  one  reading  room,  however, 
he  found  that  there  were  two,  with  an  open  door 


196 


Rollo  in  Rone. 


Rollo  goes  to  find  his  uncle  in  the  reading  room. 


leading  from  one  to  the  other.  There  were  a 
great  number  of  very  comfortable  sofas  and  arm 
chairs  all  about  these  rooms,  and  great  tables  in 
the  middle  of  them  covered  with  newspapers  and 
magazines.  The  walls  of  both  rooms  were  com¬ 
pletely  covered  with  paintings  of  all  sizes,  most 
of  which  had  been  left  there  for  sale.  There 
were  a  great  many  gentlemen  sitting  around  the 
tables  and  upon  the  sofas,  reading.  Among  them 
Rollo  soon  found  Mr.  George.  He  had  estab¬ 
lished  himself  in  a  comfortable  arm  chair,  near  a 
great  window  that  looked  out  upon  the  square. 
But  he  was  obliged  to  keep  the  curtain  down,  on 
account  of  the  beggars  outside,  that  gave  him  no 
peace  as  long  as  they  could  see  him. 

“Uncle  George,”  said  Rollo,  “here  are  some 
gentlemen  who  want  to  make  up  a  party  to  go 
and  see  something  by  torch  light,  and  I  thought 
that  perhaps  you  and  I  would  like  to  join  it.” 

“  Where  is  it  that  they  are  going? ”  asked  Mr. 
George  —  “  to  the  Vatican  ?  ” 

“  Yes,”  said  Rollo,  “  it  is  the  Vatican.  A  scudo 
and  a  half  apiece.” 

“  Very  well,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  I  should  like 
to  go.  Where  are  the  gentlemen  ?  ” 

“  They  are  out  here  in  the  bookstore.  Come 
out  and  I  will  show  them  to  you.” 

So  Mr.  George  laid  down  his  paper,  and  fol- 


The  Vatican. 


197 


Mr.  Geonre  introduced  by  Rollo.  What  is  the  Vatican? 

lowed  Rollo  out  into  the  bookstore.  Rollo  led 
the  way  to  the  place  where  the  gentlemen  were 
standing,  and  then  introduced  his  uncle,  in  a  dis¬ 
tinct  and  audible  voice,  thus,  — 

“  This  is  my  uncle,  gentlemen,  Mr.  George  Holi¬ 
day.” 

The  gentlemen  greeted  Mr.  Holiday  in  a  very 
polite  manner,  and  informed  him  of  their  plan, 
and  that  they  wanted  three  more  names  to  make 
up  the  necessary  number  for  a  party. 

And  here  I  ought  to  say  in  explanation,  that 
what  is  called  the  “  V atican  ”  is  a  vast  collection 
of  very  magnificent  and  imposing  buildings, — 
consisting  of  palaces,  chapels,  halls,  galleries,  and 
the  like,  almost  without  number,  —  and  it  is  filled 
with  paintings,  sculptures,  manuscripts,  books, 
jewels,  gems,  and  other  curiosities  and  treasures 
of  incalculable  value.  It  is  situated  in  close 
proximity  to  the  great  Church  of  St.  Peter’s  — 
the  largest  and  most  gorgeous  church  in  the 
world.  Indeed,  the  church  and  the  palaces  form, 
as  it  were,  one  vast  architectural  pile,  which  is  of 
almost  inconceivable  magnificence  and  grandeur. 

The  various  edifices  which  compose  the  Vatican 
were  several  centuries  in  building,  and  the  im¬ 
mense  magnitude  and  extent  of  the  edifice,  and 
the  exhaustless  wealth  of  the  treasures  of  art 
deposited  there,  astonish  every  beholder.  The 


198 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


The  Vatican  and  St.  Peter’s  Church. 


buildings  are  so  extensive  that  they  require  eight 
grand  staircases  and  two  hundred  smaller  ones  to 
gain  access  to  the  different  stories.  There  are 
twenty  open  courts  and  over  four  thousand  differ¬ 
ent  rooms.  Some  of  these  rooms  are  galleries 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and  are  filled  on 
each  side  with  sculptures  and  statuary,  or  other 
works  of  art,  from  end  to  end.  The  length  of 
these  galleries  is  not,  however,  out  of  proportion 
to  other  parts  of  the  structure.  The  church  of 
St.  Peter’s,  including  the  portico,  is  considerably 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long. 

Now,  among  the  treasures  of  the  Vatican  are 
an  immense  number  of  ancient  statues  which  were 
dug  up,  in  the  middle  ages,  in  and  around  Rome  ; 
and  some  of  these  sculptures  are  the  most  cele¬ 
brated  works  of  art  in  the  world.  They  are 
arranged  with  great  care  in  a  great  number  of 
beautiful  chambers  and  halls,  and  are  visited 
during  the  daytime  by  thousands  of  people  that 
have  come  to  Rome  from  every  part  of  the  world. 
The  picture  galleries,  the  collection  of  ancient 
curiosities,  and  the  library  rooms  containing  the 
books  and  manuscripts,  are  also  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  thrown  open,  and  they  are  thronged  with 
visitors  almost  all  the  time.  These  apartments 
are  so  numerous  and  so  extensive  that  in  one  day 
a  person  can  do  little  else  than  to  walk  through 


The  Vatican. 


199 


The  vast  extent  of  the  Vatican.  Its  statues. 

them,  and  give  one  general  gaze  of  bewildering 
wonder  at  the  whole  scene.  And  a  very  long 
walk  it  is,  I  can  assure  you.  At  one  time,  when  I 
set  out  from  the  painting  rooms,  (which  are  far  in 
the  interior  of  the  buildings,)  with  a  party  of 
friends,  intending  to  go  out,  in  order  to  go  home, 
we  walked  steadily  on  at  our  ordinary  pace,  with¬ 
out  stopping,  or  deviating  from  our  way,  and  we 
found  that  it  took  us  twenty  minutes  to  get  out  to 
our  carriage ! 

In  addition  to  these  visits  made  during  the 
day,  small  parties  are  sometimes  formed  to  visit 
the  galleries  of  statuary  by  night.  It  is  found 
that  the  illumination  of  a  torch,  by  the  strong 
contrasts  of  light  and  shade  which  it  produces, 
brings  out  the  expression  of  the  statues  in  a  very 
striking  manner,  so  as  to  produce  sometimes  a 
most  wonderful  effect. 

It  is,  however,  somewhat  expensive  to  exhibit 
these  statues  by  torch  light,  partly  on  account  of 
the  cost  of  the  torches,  and  partly  on  account  of 
the  attendants  that  are  required.  The  cost  is 
nearly  twenty  dollars.  It  is  accordingly  custom¬ 
ary  to  make  up  a  party,  whenever  an  evening  visit 
to  the  Vatican  is  proposed,  in  order  to  divide  the 
expense.  The  number  that  can  see  the  statues  to 
advantage  in  these  evening  visits  is  from  twelve 
to  fifteen.  A  party  of  twelve  is  sufficient  to  pay 


200 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  business  arrangements  of  the  excursion. 


the  expense  at  the  rate  of  a  scudo  and  a  half  for 
each  person.* 

It  was  such  a  plan  as  this  that  the  gentlemen 
were  forming,  whose  party  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
were  now  proposing  to  join. 

The  gentlemen  had  been  much  pleased  with 
Rollo’s  appearance  and  demeanor  when  he  accost¬ 
ed  them,  and  they  were  now  still  more  pleased, 
when  they  saw  Mr.  George,  to  find  that  he  was  a 
young  gentleman,  of  about  their  own  age,  and 
that  he  was  so  prepossessing  in  his  countenance 
and  in  his  air  and  manner.  Mr.  George  readily 
agreed  to  join  the  party.  They  asked  him  if  he 
knew  of  any  body  else  that  he  thought  would 
like  to  go.  He  inquired  whether  there  were  to 
be  any  ladies  in  the  party.  They  said  that  there 
were  to  be  several.  “  Then,”  said  Mr.  George, 
“  I  will  be  responsible  for  the  twelfth  place.  I 
am  quite  sure  that  1  can  find  some  person  that 
would  like  to  go. 

“  And  suppose  I  find  more  than  one  ?  ”  said  Mr. 
George. 

“  That  will  do  no  harm,”  replied  the  gentle¬ 
men.  “We  can  have  from  twelve  to  fifteen  in 
the  party.” 

“  Then  I  will  take  the  three  places,”  said  Mr. 

*  The  scudo  is  the  Roman  dollar.  It  is  worth  considerably  spore 
than  the  American  dollar. 


The  Vatican. 


201 


Paying  in  advance.  The  rendezvous.  An  invitation. 


George,  “and  I  will  pay  my  proportion  now. 
Which  of  you  gentlemen  acts  as  treasurer  ?  ” 

One  of  the  three  gentlemen  said  that  he  had 
undertaken  to  collect  and  pay  over  the  money, 
but  he  added  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  Mr. 
George  to  pay  at  that  time.  Mr.  George,  how¬ 
ever,  preferred  to  do  so,  and  he  accordingly  took 
out  his  purse  and  paid  his  four  scudi  and  a  half, 
which  was  the  amount  due  for  three  persons. 
The  gentlemen  seemed  to  be  quite  pleased  to  find 
that  their  party  was  thus  made  up,  and  they  told 
Mr.  George  that  since  he  had  taken  and  paid  for 
the  three  remaining  places,  he  might  bring  with 
him  any  number  of  persons  that  he  pleased,  so 
long  as  he  did  not  make  the  party  more  than  fif¬ 
teen  in  all.  It  was  agreed,  too,  that  the  party 
was  to  rendezvous  that  evening,  at  eight  o’clock, 
at  the  foot  of  the  grand  staircase,  leading  from 
the  portico  of  St.  Peter’s  up  to  the  principal  court 
of  the  Yatican. 

Mr.  George,  as  soon  as  he  went  home,  sent 
Rollo  to  Mrs.  Beekman’s  room  to  inform  her  of 
the  proposed  party,  and  to  ask  her  if  she  would 
like  to  join  it. 

“And  may  I  invite  Allie  too?”  asked  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  and  Charles. 
Though  I  don’t  think  they  will  wish  to  go,  for 
such  children  generally  feel  very  little  interest  in 
statnes.” 


202 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Starting  for  the  Vatican.  Better  to  be  too  early  than  too  late. 

It  is  true  that  young  persons,  like  Charles  and 
Allie,  generally  feel  little  interest  in  sculptures 
and  statuary  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  feel 
a  very  great  interest  in  torch  light,  and  both 
Charles  and  Allie  were  exceedingly  eager  to  join 
the  party.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  all  three 
should  go.  It  was  arranged  that  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  were  to  call  for  them  at  seven  o’clock.  Mr. 
Beekman  was  engaged  to  dine  that  evening  with 
a  party  of  gentlemen,  and  so  he  was  left  out  of 
the  account  altogether. 

At  seven  o’clock,  accordingly,  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  called  at  Mrs.  Beekman’s  rooms,  and  a  few 
minutes  afterwards  they  all  went  together  down  to 
the  door  of  the  hotel,  where  Mr.  George  beckoned 
to  the  coachman  of  one  of  the  carriages  that  stood 
in  the  square. 

The  whole  party  entered  the  carriage,  after 
Mr.  George  had  made  his  bargain  with  the 
coachman,  and  immediately  set  off.  They  rode 
for  some  distance  along  a  pretty  straight  road, 
and  then  came  to  a  bridge,  which  was  opposite 
to  a  great  round  castle.  They  went  over  this 
bridge,  and  then  turning  to  the  left,  under  the 
walls  of  the  castle,  they  went  on  towards  the 
Vatican. 

“We  shall  arrive  there  some  time  before  the 
hour,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “but  I  thought  it  was 
better  to  be  too  early  than  too  late.” 


The  Vatican. 


203 


The  piazza  of  St.  Peter’s. 

“  Yes/7  replied  Mrs.  Beekman,  “  we  can  amuse 
ourselves  half  an  hour  in  rambling  about  the 
colonnades  and  porticos  of  St.  Peter7s.77 

In  front  of  St.  Peter7s  there  is  an  immense 
area,  enclosed  on  each  side  by  a  magnificent  semi¬ 
circular  colonnade.  There  are  four  rows  of  lofty 
columns  in  this  colonnade,  with  a  carriage  way  in 
the  centre  between  them.  The  space  enclosed 
between  these  colonnades  is  called  the  piazza  * 
and  it  is  adorned  with  fountains  and  colossal 
statues,  and  on  days  of  public  festivities  and  cele¬ 
brations,  it  is  filled  with  an  immense  concourse  of 
people.  It  is  large  enough  to  contain  a  great 
many  thousands. 

When  Mr.  George  and  his  party  arrived,  they 
dismissed  the  carriage  and  began  to  walk  to  and 
fro  under  the  colonnade  and  about  the  piazza. 
The  time  passed  away  very  rapidly  ;  and  at  length, 
a  few  minutes  before  eight,  the  other  carriages 
began  to  come.  All  the  persons  who  belonged 
to  the  party  were  anxious  to  arrive  in  time,  for 
they  were  afraid  that,  if  they  were  too  late,  the 
others  would  have  gone  into  the  Vatican,  where, 
the  building  being  so  immense,  it  might  be  very 
difficult  to  find  them. 

Accordingly,  before  the  clock  struck  eight,  all 
the  party  were  assembled  at  the  entrance  door. 


*  Pronounced  piatza. 


204 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  Swiss  sentinels. 


Torches  and  torch  bearers. 


The  entrance  opened  from  a  vast  covered  gal¬ 
lery,  which  formed  one  of  the  approaches  to  St. 
Peter’s,  between  the  end  of  the  colonnade  and  the 
main  front  of  the  building.  There  were  several 
Swiss  sentinels  on  guard  here.  They  were  dressed 
in  what  seemed  to  Rollo  a  very  fantastic  garb. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  men  who  were  to  accompany 
the  party  through  the  galleries  appeared.  One 
of  them  carried  a  great  number  of  very  long 
candles  under  his  arm.  Another  had  a  long  pole 
with  a  socket  at  the  top  of  it,  and  a  semicircular 
screen  of  tin  on  one  side,  to  screen  the  light  of 
the  candles  from  the  eyes  of  the  visitors,  and  to 
throw  it  upon  the  statues.  When  all  was  ready, 
these  torch  bearers  moved  on,  and  were  followed 
by  the  whole  party  up  the  great  staircase  which 
led  to  the  galleries  of  the  Vatican. 

After  going  upward  and  onward  for  some 
time,  they  came  at  length  to  the  entrance  of  one 
of  the  long  galleries  of  sculpture.  Here  the 
torch  bearers  stopped  and  began  to  prepare  their 
torches.  They  cut  the  long  candles  in  two,  so 
as  to  make  pieces  about  eighteen  inches  long. 
Taking  six  or  eight  of  these  pieces,  they  placed 
them  together  like  a  bundle  of  sticks,  and  tied 
them,  and  then  crowded  the  ends  together 
into  the  socket  upon  the  end  of  the  pole.  This 
socket  was  made  large  enough  to  receive  them. 


The  Vatican. 


205 


The  scene  of  viewing  the  statues  by  torchlight. 

They  then  lighted  the  wicks,  and  thus  they  had 
a  large  number  of  candles  all  burning  together 
as  one. 

The  screen,  which  I  have  already  spoken  of, 
covered  this  blaze  of  light  upon  one  side,  so  as 
to  keep  it  from  shining  upon  the  faces  of  the 
company. 

Thus  provided  the  torch  bearers  went  on,  and 
the  company  followed  them.  Of  course,  there  is 
only  time  in  the  two  hours  usually  appropriated 
to  this  exhibition  to  show  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  the  statues.  The  torch  bearers  accord¬ 
ingly  selected  such  as  they  thought  were  most 
important  to  be  seen,  and  they  passed  rapidly  on 
from  one  to  another  of  these,  omitting  all  the 
others.  When  they  approached  a  statue  which 
they  were  going  to  exhibit,  they  would  hold  the 
torch  up  near  the  face  of  it  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  throw  a  strong  light  upon  the  features,  and  so 
bring  out  the  expression  in  a  striking  manner. 
The  screen  shielded  the  eyes  of  the  company 
from  the  direct  rays  of  the  flame,  and  yet  there 
was  sufficient  light  reflected  from  the  marble 
walls  of  the  gallery,  and  from  the  beautiful 
white  surfaces  of  the  statues  arranged  along 
them,  to  enable  the  company  to  discern  each 
other  very  distinctly,  and  to  see  all  the  objects 
around  them. 


206 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


What  the  children  thought  of  the  spectacle. 

The  company  passed  in  this  manner  through 
one  of  the  long  galleries,  stopping  here  and  there 
to  look  at  the  great  masterpieces  of  ancient  art, 
and  then  they  entered  into  a  series  of  compara¬ 
tively  smaller  chambers  and  halls.  Rollo  was 
exceedingly  interested  in  the  exhibition,  and  in  all 
the  attendant  circumstances  of  it ;  but  he  could 
not  tell  whether  Allie  was  pleased  or  not.  She 
seemed  bewildered  and  struck  dumb  with  amaze¬ 
ment  at  the  strange  aspect  of  the  scenes  and  spec¬ 
tacles  which  were  continually  presented  to  view. 
The  immense  extent  and  the  gorgeous  magnifi¬ 
cence  of  the  galleries  and  halls,  the  countless 
multitude  of  statues,  and  the  almost  spectral 
appearance  which  they  assumed  when  the  torch 
bearers  threw  the  bright  light  of  the  torch  upon 
their  cold  marble  faces,  all  impressed  her  with 
a  solemn  awe,  which  seemed  so  entirely  to  subdue 
and  silence  her,  that  Rollo  could  not  tell  how  she 
felt,  or  what  she  thought  of  the  strange  spectacle 
which  he  had  brought  her  to  see. 

After  about  an  hour,  the  first  set  of  candles 
that  had  been  put  into  the  socket  of  the  torch 
pole  were  burned  down,  and  then  the  torch 
bearers  supplied  their  places  with  another  set 
formed  by  the  remaining  halves  of  the  candles 
which  they  had  cut  in  two.  These  lasted  another 
hour.  By  that  time  the  company  had  seen  all 


TheY  atican. 


207 


Returning  to  the  hotels. 

the  most  striking  and  celebrated  statues  in  the 
principal  halls  and  galleries.  They  had  been 
making  a  sort  of  circuit  through  the  palace  in 
passing  through  these  rooms,  and  now  came  out 
very  near  the  entrance  door,  where  they  had 
come  in.  Here  the  torch  bearers  left  them,  and 
went  away  with  their  apparatus  to  the  part  of 
the  building  where  they  belonged,  while  the 
company,  descending  the  grand  staircase,  came 
out  into  one  of  the  porticos  of  the  church,  and 
issuing  from  the  portico  they  found  carriages  in 
waiting  upon  the  piazza,  and  ready  to  convey 
them  home.  Mr.  George  and  his  party  reached 
their  hotel  about  nine  o’clock,  all  very  much 
pleased  with  the  spectacle  which  they  had  wit¬ 
nessed. 


208 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rollo  plans  a  new  excursion. 


Chapter  XI. 

Conclusion. 

Rollo  was  so  much  pleased  with  his  torch 
light  visit  to  the  Vatican,  and  he  found,  more¬ 
over,  on  talking  with  Charles  and  Allie  about  it 
the  next  day,  so  much  evidence  of  their  having 
been  greatly  pleased  with  it,  that  he  planned,  a 
few  days  afterwards,  a  torch  light  visit  to  the 
Coliseum.  It  is  very  common  to  make  moonlight 
visits  to  the  Coliseum,  but  Rollo  thought  a  torch 
light  view  of  the  majestic  old  ruin  would  be 
better.  On  proposing  his  plan  to  his  uncle,  Mr. 
George  said  that  he  had  no  objection  to  it  if 
Rollo  would  make  all  the  arrangements.  He  did 
not  know  any  thing  about  it  himself,  he  said. 

Rollo  said  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  could 
arrange  it,  with  the  help  of  a  commissioner. 

So  Rollo  looked  out  a  good  commissioner,  and 
the  commissioner  arranged  the  plan.  I  have  not 
space  to  describe  this  visit  fully,  but  must  pass  on 
to  the  conclusion  of  the  book.  I  will  only  say 
that  the  torches  which  were  employed  on  this 


4T 


COLISEUM  BY  TORCHLIGHT. 


Conclusion. 


211 


jh-xploring  the  Coliseum  by  torch  light.  The  unhealthy  season. 

occasion,  were  different  from  those  employed  in 
the  exhibition  of  the  statues  in  the  Vatican,  be¬ 
ing  more  like  those  used  by  firemen  in  America. 
There  were  also  more  of  them  in  number,  the 
commissioner  having  provided  four.  With  these 
torch  bearers  to  light  their  way,  Rollo’s  party  ex¬ 
plored  the  Coliseum  in  every  part,  and  they  found 
that  the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  the  immense 
corridors  and  vast  vaulted  passages  of  the  ruin 
were  greatly  enhanced  by  the  solemnity  of  the 
night,  and  by  the  flickering  glare  of  the  torches, 
shining  upon  the  massive  piers,  and  into  the  dark 
recesses  of  the  ruin. 

I  do  not  know  how  many  more  torch-light  visits 
to  wonderful  places  in  Rome  Rollo  would  have 
planned,  had  not  the  time  arrived  when  Mr. 
George  thought  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  go 
back  to  Prance. 

“  It  is  getting  late  in  the  season,”  said  Mr. 
George,  “  and  every  body  is  leaving  Rome.  I 
don’t  think  it  is  safe  for  us  to  remain  much  longer 
here  ourselves,  on  account  of  the  fever.” 

Rome  is  extremely  unhealthy  in  the  summer 
months  ;  and  in  the  environs  there  is  a  very  wide 
tract  of  country  which  is  almost  entirely  unin¬ 
habitable  all  the  year  round,  on  account  of  the 
prevalence  of  fever. 

“Very  well,”  said  Rollo, ^  “  we  will  go  when¬ 
ever  you  please.” 


212 


Hollo  in  Rome. 


Embarrassments  of  travelling  on  the  continent. 

“We  must  take  our  places  in  tlie  steamer  and 
in  the  diligences  several  days  beforehand/7  said 
Mr.  George.  “We  will  go  to  the  steamboat 
office  to-day.77 

There  are  several  lines  of  steamers  that  go 
from  Rome  to  Marseilles,  which  is  the  port  of 
landing  for  travellers  going  to  France  and  Eng¬ 
land.  Some  of  these  steamers  go  “  direct 77  across 
the  sea,  while  others  coast  along  the  shore,  sailing 
at  night,  and  stopping  during  the  day  at  the 
large  towns  on  the  route.  The  first  night  they 
go  to  Leghorn,  the  second  to  Genoa,  and  the 
third  to  Marseilles.  At  first  Mr.  George  thought 
that  he  would  take  one  of  these  coasting  steam¬ 
ers  ;  but  he  finally  concluded  to  go  “  direct.77 

“  It  would  be  very  pleasant,77  said  he  to  Rollo, 
“  for  us  to  stop  at  those  towns,  and  ramble  about 
during  the  day,  and  then  in  the  evening  set  sail 
again,  provided  we  could  be  at  liberty  to  land  at 
our  pleasure,  to  ramble  about  unmolested  wher¬ 
ever  we  wished  to  go,  as  we  can  do  in  America.77 

“  And  can7t  we  do  so  ?  77  asked  Rollo. 

“  No,77  said  Mr.  George.  “  In  the  first  place 
we  must  have  our  passports  stamped  here  for  all 
the  places  that  we  wish  to  visit,  and  that  will 
cause  us  here  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  not  a 
little  expense.  Then  to  land  we  must  have  our 
passports  all  examined  again,  and  stamped,  and 


Conclusion. 


213 


What  Rollo  thought  about  the  passport  system. 

there  will  be  more  money  to  pay  ;  and  likely  as  not 
we  should  be  detained  half  the  morning  in  get¬ 
ting  through  all  these  formalities,  and  so  our  time 
would  be  passed  in  fruitless  vexation  instead  of 
pleasure.  Then,  when  at  last  we  were  free,  and 
began  our  rambles,  we  should  be  beset  by  beg¬ 
gars  every  where,  and  have  no  peace.77 

“  What  a  foolish  plan  it  is  to  plague  travellers 
so  much  with  all  these  ceremonies  about  pass¬ 
ports  ! 77  said  Rollo. 

“  I  am  not  certain  that  it  is  foolish  for  such 
governments  as  these,77  replied  Mr.  George. 
“You  see,  they  are  governments  of  force,  main¬ 
tained  over  the  people  against  their  will,  by 
means  of  military  power.  The  people  at  large 
hate  the  government,  and  are  all  the  time  plotting 
to  destroy  it ;  and  if  the  plotters  were  allowed  to 
go  freely  to  and  fro  all  over  the  country,  they 
would  be  able  to  organize  their  plans,  and  gen¬ 
eral  insurrections  would  be  arranged,  and  the 
governments  might  thus  be  overthrown.  By  al¬ 
lowing  nobody  to  travel  without  a  passport,  stat¬ 
ing  who  he  is,  and  where  he  came  from,  and 
where  he  is  going,  the  government  keep  every 
thing  under  their  control.77 

“  But  I  think  the  governments  ought  to  be  over¬ 
thrown,77  said  Rollo,  “  and  better  governments,  such 
as  the  people  would  like,  set  up  in  their  places.77 


214 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  pretext  for  the  passport  system. 

“  So  do  I,”  said  Mr.  George  ;  “  but  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  governors  themselves  of  these 
countries  don’t  think  so.  They  wish  to  retain 
their  stations  and  their  power,  whether  the  peo¬ 
ple  like  it  or  not ;  and  the  passport  system  is  a 
very  cunning  contrivance  to  help  them  do  it. 
And  then,  besides,  they  have  a  very  good  pretext 
for  keeping  up  the  system. 

“  What  is  their  pretext  ?  ”  asked  Rollo. 

“  They  pretend  that  the  object  is  to  assist  them 
in  stopping  and  arresting  robbers,  and  murder¬ 
ers,  and  other  criminals  who  attempt  to  escape 
from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another  after  com¬ 
mitting  their  crimes.  And  the  system  is  some¬ 
times  useful  in  this  way,  I  have  no  doubt ;  though 
these  criminals  can  often  elude  the  authorities  by 
procuring  false  passports.” 

“  And  the  plotters  against  the  government,  too, 
I  suppose,”  said  Rollo. 

“  Yes,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  sometimes.” 

This  conversation  took  place  while  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  were  walking  towards  the  steamboat 
office,  to  take  their  passages  to  Marseilles. 

They  arrived  at  the  office.  The  clerk  answered 
their  inquiries  in  respect  to  the  steamer  with 
great  politeness.  The  conversation  was  in  the 
French  language.  He  told  them  that  the  steam¬ 
er  started  from  Naples  every  evening,  and  that  it 


Conclusion. 


215 


Engaging  a  passage  on  the  steamer  for  Marseilles. 


stopped  in  the  morning  about  eight  o’clock  at 
Civita  Yecchia  *  to  take  in  the  passengers  from 
Rome.  It  was  necessary  for  the  passengers  to  go 
from  Rome  to  Civita  Yecchia  by  diligence,  or 
by  post,  or  with  a  vetturino. 

“  Then  there  are  no  carriages  from  your  office,” 
said  Mr.  George. 

“  No,  sir,”  replied  the  clerk.  “We  take  the 
passengers  at  Civita  Yecchia.  They  find  their 
own  conveyances  there.” 

“  Yery  well,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  I  will  take 
two  berths  in  the  steamer  for  Thursday  morning. 
Can  I  see  a  plan  of  the  steamer  so  as  to  select 
the  berths  ?  ” 

“No,  sir,”  said  the  clerk,  “  we  have  no  plan  of 
the  steamer.  And  besides,  we  cannot  positively 
promise  you  any  berths.  It  depends  upon  how 
many  passengers  there  are  from  Naples.  The 
passengers  from  Rome  take  the  berths  that  are 
left  vacant.  They  take  them  in  the  order  in 
which  they  take  passage  here.” 

“  Are  there  many  that  have  taken  passage  be¬ 
fore  us?  ”  asked  Mr.  George. 

“No,  sir,”  said  the  clerk,  “  only  two.  Your 
numbers  are  3  and  4.” 

“  Then,  if  there  are  more  than  two  berths  that 


*  Pronounced  Tchivita  Vekkia . 


216 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Buying  tickets.  The  diligence  office. 

are  not  occupied  by  the  Naples  passengers,  we 
can  have  them  ?  ” 

“  Yes,  sir,”  said  the  clerk. 

“  And  suppose  there  are  not  more  than  two,” 
asked  Rollo,  “  what  shall  we  do  then  ?  ” 

“Why,  then  you  will  have  sofas  or  cots,”  said 
the  clerk. 

“  0,  that  will  do  just  as  well,”  said  Rollo.  “  I 
would  as  lief  have  a  sofa  or  a  cot  as  a  berth.” 

So  Mr.  George  paid  the  money,  and  took  tick¬ 
ets  numbers  3  and  4,  and  then,  having  inquired 
the  way  to  the  diligence  office,  they  bade  the 
clerk  good  morning,  and  went  away. 

“  And  now,”  said  Mr.  George,  “  we  must  go  di¬ 
rectly  to  the  diligence  office,  and  secure  our 
places  for  Civita  Yecchia.  If  we  put  it  off,  the 
places  might  all  be  taken,  and  then  we  should 
lose  the  passage  money  we  have  paid  for  the 
steamer.” 

“  Would  not  they  pay  us  back  again  ?  ”  asked 
Rollo. 

“  I  am  afraid  not,”  said  Mr.  George.  “  But  I 
think  we  are  in  season,  for  it  is  now  Tuesday,  and 
we  do  not  sail  till  Thursday.” 

On  entering  the  diligence  office,  Mr.  George 
saw  one  or  two  clerks  standing  behind  a  counter. 
They  seemed  busy  talking  with  persons  who  had 
come  in  to  engage  places,  and  entering  their 


Conclusion. 


217 


The  travellers  in  a  perplexity. 

names  in  great  books.  As  soon  as  one  of  the 
clerks  was  at  liberty  Mr.  George  accosted  him, 
saying  that  he  wished  to  get  two  places  in  the 
diligence  for  Civita  Yecchia  on  Wednesday. 

The  clerk  looked  at  the  book,  and  said  that  all 
the  places  were  taken  for  Wednesday,  except 
one. 

“That’s  bad,”  said  Mr.  George.  “We  shall 
have  to  go  down  on  Tuesday,  then,  and  stay  a 
day  at  Civita  Yecchia.  Are  there  any  places  for 
Tuesday  ?  ” 

The  clerk  looked,  and  said  that  everyplace  for 
Tuesday  was  engaged. 

“But  there  is  a  coach  on  Wednesday  night,” 
he  added,  “that  arrives  at  Civita  Yecchia  in 
the  morning  in  time  for  the  steamer.” 

Then  turning  over  to  another  place  in  his  book, 
he  looked  at  the  list  of  names,  and  then  told  Mr. 
George  that  there  was  only  one  vacant  place  for 
Wednesday  night. 

“  Dear  me,  Rollo  !  ”  said  Mr.  George,  “  how 
unfortunate !  We  ought  to  have  attended  to  this 
business  before.” 

“  I’ll  tell  you  what  we  can  do,”  said  Rollo. 
“  One  of  us  can  go  on  Wednesday  morning,  and 
the  other  wait  here  and  come  on  in  the  night.” 

“  That  is  the  only  thing  that  we  can  do,”  said 
Mr.  George,  “  unless  we  hire  a  carriage  to  our- 


218 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Separating  for  the  ride  to  Civita  Vecchia. 


selves,  and  that  would  be  expensive.  Should  you 
dare  to  go  alone  ?  77 

“  0,  yes,  indeed/7  said  Rollo. 

“But  remember/7  said  Mr.  George,  “  that  all 
the  people  will  be  speaking  Italian.  You  will 
have  to  ride  among  them  like  a  deaf  and  dumb 
boy.77 

“  Never  mind  that,77  said  Rollo.  “  Deaf  and 
dumb  boys  get  along  in  travelling  very  well. 
Besides,  1  am  almost  sure  that  there  will  be  some¬ 
body  in  the  diligence  that  can  speak  French  or 
English.77 

“  And  which  would  you  rather  do,77  asked  Mr. 
George,  “  go  in  the  morning  or  in  the  evening  ? 
If  you  go  in  the  morning  coach,  you  will  have  to 
set  out  very  early,  before  it  is  light,  and  then 
stay  at  Civita  Vecchia,  in  a  strange  hotel,  alone, 
all  night.  If  you  go  in  the  evening,  you  can  re¬ 
main  here,  where  you  are  acquainted,  all  day  ; 
but  then  you  will  have  to  Tide  alone  in  the 
night.77 

“  I  would  rather  go  in  the  morning  coach/7  said 
Rollo. 

“  V ery  well/7  said  Mr.  George.  “  That7s  what 
we7ll  do.77 

This  conversation  between  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  had  been  carried  on  in  English  ;  but  now 
Mr.  George  turned  to  the  clerk,  and  said  in 


Conclusion. 


219 


Hollo  starting  early  for  the  coach  alone. 


French  that  he  would  take  the  two  places  that 
were  left,  one  in  the  morning  coach  and  one  in 
the  evening  coach  of  W ednesday.  The  place  in 
the  morning  coach  was  upon  the  banquette.  The 
one  in  the  evening  coach  was  in  the  coupe.  Mr. 
George  had  scarcely  uttered  the  words  by  which 
he  engaged  the  seats,  before  two  gentlemen  came 
in  in  a  hurried  manner  to  ask  for  seats  in  the 
diligence  for  Wednesday.  The  clerk  told  them 
that  the  last  of  them  had  just  been  engaged. 

When  Wednesday  morning  came,  Rollo  was 
awakened  by  the  porter  of  the  hotel  knocking  at 
his  door  before  it  was  light.  He  got  up,  and 
opened  the  door  a  little  way,  and  took  in  the 
candles  which  the  porter  handed  to  him.  Mr. 
George  had  intended  to  get  up  too,  and  go  with 
Rollo  to  the  office  ;  but  Rollo  particularly  desired 
that  he  should  not  do  so. 

“  I  have  nothing  to  carry,”  said  he,  “  but  my 
little  valise,  and  the  porter  will  go  with  me  to 
take  that,  and  to  see  me  safe  through  the  streets. 
So  that  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  you  to  go, 
and  I  would  much  rather  not  have  you  go.” 

Mr.  George  perceived  that  Rollo  felt  a  pride 
in  taking  care  of  himself  on  this  occasion,  and 
so  he  yielded  to  this  request,  and  remained  in  his 
bed.  If  he  had  not  been  convinced  that  Rollo 
would  be  perfectly  safe  under  the  porter’s  care, 


220 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


The  appearance  of  the  hotel  early  in  the  morning. 

he  would  of  course  have  insisted  on  going  him¬ 
self.  Rollo  was  soon  dressed,  and  then  going  to 
his  uncle's  bedside,  he  shook  hands  with  him,  and 
bade  him  good  by. 

“  I  shall  be  looking  out  for  you  at  the  diligence 
office  in  Civita  Vecchia,7'  said  he,  “  when  the  dil¬ 
igence  arrives  to-morrow  morning.'7 

So  saying,  he  took  his  candle  in  one  hand  and 
his  valise  in  the  other,  and  sallied  forth  into  the 
long  corridor  of  the  hotel.  He  had  to  walk  a 
a  great  distance  along  this  corridor,  passing  a 
great  many  doors,  with  a  pair  of  boots  or  shoes 
before  each  of  them,  before  he  reached  the 
head  of  the  staircase.  He  descended  the  stair¬ 
case,  and  at  the  bottom  of  it  found  the  porter 
waiting  for  him.  The  porter  had  another  candle, 
which  was  upon  a  table  in  the  hall.  He  took 
Rollo's  candle,  and  also  the  valise,  and  then  un¬ 
bolted  and  unlocked  the  front  door.  A  sleepy- 
looking  boy  was  ready  to  lock  it  again,  after  Rol¬ 
lo  and  the  porter  had  gone  out. 

So  they  sallied  forth  into  the  cool  morning  air. 
There  were  lamps  burning  in  the  streets,  and  in 
one  direction,  where  there  was  an  opening  among 
the  buildings,  Rollo  could  see  some  faint  signs  of 
the  dawn  in  the  eastern  sky. 

The  porter  could  only  speak  Italian  ;  so  he  and 
Rollo  walked  along  together  in  silence  through 


Conclusion. 


221 


Leaving  Rome. 


The  arrival  at  Civita  Vecchia. 


the  solitary  streets.  They  soon  arrived  at  the 
diligence  office,  where  there  was  a  bright  light  of 
lanterns,  and  a  bustle  of  people  coming  and  go¬ 
ing,  and  of  postilions  bringing  out  horses.  The 
diligence  was  all  ready  before  the  door.  The 
baggage,  which  had  been  brought  for  the  purpose 
the  night  before,  was  all  loaded.  Rollo  paid  the 
porter,  and  then  climbed  up  to  his  place  on  the 
banquette.  The  horses  were  soon  harnessed  in, 
and  the  diligence  set  off ;  but  there  were  several 
stoppages  necessary  at  police  stations  and  pass¬ 
port  offices  before  the  journey  was  fairly  com¬ 
menced,  so  that  the  sun  was  rising  when  Rollo 
took  his  final  leave  of  Rome. 

He  had  a  very  pleasant  journey  across  the 
country,  and  arrived  at  Civita  Yecchia  about 
three  o’clock.  As  he  descended  from  the  coach, 
a  pleasant-looking  man,  in  a  sort  of  official  cos¬ 
tume,  accosted  him,  asking  him  if  he  was  going  to 
Leghorn  in  the  steamer  that  afternoon.  The 
man  spoke  in  English,  though  with  a  foreign 
accent. 

“  No,”  said  Rollo  ;  “  I  am  going  to  Marseilles 
to-morrow  morning.” 

“Ah!  Then  you  go  to  the  hotel,”  said  the 
man.  “This  porter  will  take  your  valise,  and 
show  you  the  way.” 

So  saying,  the  man,  who  was  a  commissioner 


222 


Rollo  in  Rome. 


Rollo  dines  alone.  Rambling  about  Civita  Vecchia.  Embarking. 

of  the  hotel,  put  Rollo  under  the  charge  of 
a  porter,  who  conducted  him  to  a  large  and 
very  substantial-looking  hotel  near  by.  Rollo 
ascended  by  a  flight  of  stone  stairs  into  the 
second  story  of  the  hotel,  and  there  engaged 
a  room  for  the  night,  and  ordered  dinner.  He 
had  a  very  good  dinner,  all  by  himself,  in  a  great 
dining  room  with  long  tables  in  it,  where  there 
were  at  the  same  time  several  other  persons  and 
parties  dining.  After  dinner  he  went  out  to  ram¬ 
ble  about  the  town.  He  was  surprised  at  the 
massive  masonry  of  the  piers,  and  breakwaters, 
and  forts,  that  lined  the  shores,  and  at  the  number 
of  vessels  and  steamers  in  the  basin.  He  returned 
to  the  hotel  in  good  season,  and  amused  himself 
there  till  nine  o’clock  observing  the  different 
parties  of  travellers  that  were  continually  coming 
and  going. 

The  next  morning  he  watched  for  the  dili¬ 
gence  from  a  piazza  on  the  second  story  of  the 
hotel  —  the  diligence  office  being  at  the  next 
door.  The  diligence  arrived  at  the  proper  time, 
and  Rollo  called  out  to  his  uncle  George  when 
he  saw  him  getting  out  from  the  coupA  This  was 
at  seven  o’clock ;  at  eight  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
embarked,  with  a  great  many  others,  in  a  small 
boat,  to  go  on  board  the  steamer,  and  at  half 


Conclusion. 


223 


Kollo  and  Mr.  George  leave  the  shores  of  Italy. 


past  eight  the  paddles  of  the  steamer  began 
to  revolve,  and  to  bear  them  rapidly  away  from 
the  shores  of  Italy  out  over  the  blue  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean,  on  the  route  to  Mar¬ 
seilles. 


♦ 


/ 


Ay?T  p/cr  U2_  £><# -/ 


